Photo by Lee Carson (CC-BY-SA)

Cycles, everyone has them. I have mine. I’m always alternating between two modes: processing mode and production mode.

Processing mode makes me very unproductive, introspective, and quiet. It’s when I’m trying give clear form to ideas. It’s when I allow myself to not produce. Or at least to not be as productive as usual. I step back, consider, rethink, and let the thoughts flow. Then I feel bad about all the idleness and try to switch to production mode.

Production mode is a more earthy, hands-on, pragmatic, productive mode. It’s when I Just Fucking Do It ™. It’s when all the processing mode pays off. I get to focus on getting things done. And then I burn out and enter processing mode again.

Every time I travel for longer than a week, I enter processing mode. Every time I feel like a have a good idea, I try to switch to production mode as soon as I can. Production mode generally lasts longer than processing mode. Sometimes I keep digesting an idea for weeks, even months. Many ideas never actually take form or get implemented. Some are done but don’t quite work.

And life goes on – in cycles.