Win The Week

The best part about running a storytelling publication is that people share with us their top secrets for leading a successful creative career — and we steal them! In this newsletter, we pass on some actionable insights from our interview subjects to ramp up your productivity, make your ideas happen, and tackle the workweek with a focused mindset.?

Here, Adam Moss, author, painter and former NY Magazine Editor, shares the quirks behind how he organizes his workday into two parts. Use these hacks to create the best combo of productivity and creativity in your workday:

1. Bifurcate the day.

"My work is sort of schizy (bifurcated); so is my day," says Adam Moss. "Sitting at my kitchen table, I write — and do other work that comes my way (like this questionnaire!), assorted projects in many media. I generally break for exercise, grab lunch with my husband and start “Day, Part 2”, which is painting. I head to my studio on the Lower East Side of New York, lock the door, mix some paint, and jump into the abyss."

2. Pick your poison: Silence or Shuffle

Here's Moss's play: "I pick one song that’s typically buzzing in my head, then just follow whatever playlist Spotify chooses from it. But that is only when I paint. When I write I need silence."

3. Always write down your dreams (literally, get up!)

"Typically why I sleep so badly (other than an aging bladder) is that I dream what feels like a great idea, and pop awake so that I don’t forget," Moss says. "I write it down and try to get myself back to sleep, which doesn't always succeed. I developed this habit when I was in the business of writing headlines; I dreamed headlines. Invariably, however, what I found in the morning (idea or headline) was/is dreck."

Read the full interview with Moss here, where he goes deeper into how he works, including his list-making compulsion; how he works in his dream studio; and why he splits up his days into two parts.