The struggles of staying motivated while working as a Copywriter.
In 1993, I was helping a friend move out of his apartment. I don't remember a whole lot about that day, except a Peanuts comic strip he had pinned to a bulletin board I packed away.
Snoopy sat in each panel, atop his doghouse, banging away at his typewriter.
The first panel was titled "Monday." Snoopy seemed a little dejected about getting back to work. He was obviously forcing himself to get into the rhythm.
On the Tuesday strip, he's surrendered and seems to be enjoying himself.
Wednesday, he doesn't looks so excited, anymore.
Thursday, a thought-bubble from his head says, "Can't wait 'til Friday." He looks fatigued.
Then on the Friday panel, he's thinking "TGIF!" The mutt's working busily away, happy, content, and full of energy.
My friend saw me reading the cartoon and said, "That about sums it up doesn't it?"
Sure, it does. But it doesn't make one bit of sense.
Why do people enjoy Friday's workday more than Thursday's? On Friday they've been working now five days, instead of four. If anything, their energy level should be down, not up.
The answer, though, is clear. It's all in the mind. Because the week is over, Snoopy's more positive and produces some of his best manuscript content on Friday. The rest of the week he'd rather be somewhere else.
I know from experience... if the enthusiasm is there, the energy quickly follows. Sadly, it's not always that easy.
Often times we have the wrong mental images in our head about ourselves as a copywriter. I can't tell you how many times my mind has fought getting back to work on a project -- yet once I get typing I'm enjoying myself, plenty.
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