How To Get Shit Done (or The Twelve Ingredients of Magic)

Getting anything complicated done is a challenge, but it isn’t impossible or nothing would ever be done. People have asked me several times this year how I manage to get such a stupendous amount of shit accomplished, and I’ve boiled it down to some simple steps. You don’t have to be a genius (I’m not) and you don’t have to be a machine (I’m not). You don’t even have to work like a titan of industry coke head CEO (I don’t). But if you do these things as a matter of routine, your output will improve.

ONE. Answer your phone, dummy. When people call me and I don’t answer, they generally infer that their call is not important, they aren’t important either, and that whatever we’re working on is on my back burner. People will also rightly assume I’m dropping the ball. I don’t ever want to give this impression. Ever. So I answer my phone. Similarly, if I’m working with someone who does not, I’ll eventually stop calling because I can take a hint. When I think about it I can truthfully say that some of the most important calls I’ve ever received were calls that were coming in one time, as in if I missed it or blew it off I’d have lost the gig. Communication is key to everything. Good habits here are critical. Don’t want to seem too eager? In what universe is that rational? If you’re eager, show it. That kind of enthusiasm is REAL. Putting on an act right off the bat is crazy stupid. If you aren’t eager, don’t answer and they will get the point. When the phone rings, the ball is officially in your court. Play ball. It works for me.

TWO. Answer your email the same day. Some days you’ll be on this until midnight, some days you only answer two or three and you’re done by noon, but get it done. I do. I don’t want it to build up to the point that I miss something or lose sight of the project goal. I don’t want the people I’m dealing with to suspect this is happening, either.

THREE. Listen to people, because they are telling you something important. Occasionally, we all have to deal with ‘static blowers’, people who will use 10,000 words to convey a 10 word idea. It just means they’re bad at communication, not that they don’t have something valuable to say. Sometimes you have to read between the lines, but your answer is always there if you listen. If you can’t get through to someone the answer to your question is no. If they can’t get through to you because you weren’t listening, your answer is no. Some people are full of excuses, which means the answer is no. This too goes both ways. I never want anyone to wonder if I can process a simple or complex idea. So I listen. Also in this regard, keep a project log you can refer to if the project is complex. I do. I also don’t want to give the impression that we have to start at square one over and over again because I can’t remember everything. The worst case scenarios here are super dark. If you don’t listen, people will begin to assume you’re a dumbass. Or worse, delusional. The arts is a bad place for delusion people. Everyone has their radar out for them and it’s a hard brand to overcome.

FOUR. Don’t school people. Publishing is a harsh place. We all get that. Agenting as a field is in truly dire need of reform or outright oblivion. Yes, everyone knows this. Half the people in the television and motion picture industry will buddy up to you so they can get a great deal and then burn you with that same smile on their faces. Trusting an art gallery owner is like trusting a baby with a gun. Bla bla bla. I don’t share my bitter experiences, especially in the beginning, because why bother? Everyone has them. You can’t build on those. You CAN build on the positive experiences. So I try to stay in the fast lane here, as in the lane with no wreckage clogging it.

FIVE. Cross pollinate. Learn something about other people’s work. It makes for more seamless integration. My job is this, your job is that. Simple, clear, and not good enough. Learning about the other roles will inform how you fit in and it’s courteous to show interest.

SIX. Be honest. Smart people will know if you aren’t and move on and that leaves you with the dipshits. You don’t want to work with a pack of dipshits, do you? This includes stretching the truth like taffy. Don’t bother. Smart people will see that, too. Honesty is how you fill your orbit with the best players. I always aspire to be one of those players, so even if the truth is embarrassing I fess up. In this regard Embarrassing=Glorious.

SEVEN. Transparency. This is different than honesty in scope. Plans change and they change for many reasons. Everything is malleable. Understanding the dynamics of a fluid situation is critical. If I make even minor adjustments I explain why in real time. I encourage the same. This enables you to understand the minds of the people around you and they yours. I personally don’t ever want to come off as secretive. I suspect secretive people and so do you. It’s the gorilla in the room if you let it be.

EIGHT. Finish the job. Developing a track record of start-to-finish is critical and it isn’t hard. Begin, do well, end, repeat. To do this I break everything down into smaller steps, things I can do, and I inform the people in my orbit of my intentions.

NINE. Have fun! In some ways I’m a simple dude. I do things I enjoy doing. If someone makes one of my fun projects into a crushing bummer they can go fuck themselves. In a good way, too, as in they can feel free to rub their bad vibe around somewhere else with like-minded wads. I don’t want to be someone’s bad vibe, so I try increasingly to work with people who enjoy their lives and enjoy their work. I want to bring something good to the table. I want everyone to do this. Then we have a feast. Some projects have a magic to them that can be felt in the final product. That magic is the joy and passion that went into it.

TEN. Learn. When you outsource a task you simply avoided learning how to do it. Do this over and over again and at the end you’ve learned nothing. Knowledge is power, and power is sharable. In this regard I think about my computer. When I first started writing, for instance, I had no intention of learning how to work this thing beyond saving a file and printing it. About four years ago I had an epic revelation- I’m full of shit. No way I can be a trusted, valuable member of anything worthwhile if I can’t use the tools of the trade. So I learned. And it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t hard either. Like many people, I can now design websites, operate a variety of programs from Excel to Pages to Word to Final Draft. And more. There was a time when I needed to know how to do all of these things and I didn’t bother to learn how. And that was bad. So! Now, when I’m confronted with something new I learn it right away. Not a genius, as I’ve already pointed out. But people are relying on me. I can’t rely on them in turn if I’m unreliable. It’s a feedback loop.

ELEVEN. This is important. Do it right the first time if you can. A ‘place holder’ is a wasted action. Put A Pin In It is a simple evasion. Every last time I’ve ever sent off a rough draft or a first thoughts document it’s come back to haunt me in a terrible way. I assume the people I’m working with are kicking ass and I want them to have the same impression of me. Showing up with the goods is a time saver, a confidence builder, and a mark of professionalism. Delivering a ‘start’ is a way to turn people off. So I don’t. If you do great work 90% of the time and then you half ass the rest, people will stick on that 10% and rightly so. Turn in your best effort every time, no matter how small the task, and shit will happen so much faster.

TWELVE. Work life and personal life separation. This can be hard. You want to be on friendly terms with the people you work with. I do. But if I get hammered and I have a terrible hangover, that’s my personal life. It can’t blur into the job. I don’t even drink but this is a good example. If I’m concerned with my sick cat I still have to deliver. There are levels here, but the main thing is to keep work and personal positively reinforcing each other and to separate them when they don’t. Some days are shit, but when I’m done I don’t bring that home with me. Even though I work from home. It can be done. I do it and the people I work with know I do. They rely on it.

There it is! Twelve things. The Twelve Ingredients of Magic. When you make things for a living you actually do have to go the extra mile. And those miles, as you see here, are not uphill. Everything good has time in it- great food, good books, good music, good art, quality films. It’s a given that hard working ‘creatives’ deserve fair compensation, as in the same compensations afforded to other skilled professionals. Time is money. There are NO exceptions. This is the 21st Century. That’s how our society operates. I expect the people in my orbit to be properly compensated and they know it. It inspires them to keep my best interests in mind. None of the 12 points above will protect you from the misguided producer who wants to pay in promises and gas money or the greedy publisher who wants to turn you into a self-promoting word machine, or a bad label or a bad curator. BUT it has been my experience, especially in the last year or so, that a robust set of positive work ethics and guidelines will improve the quality of the people in your orbit, and those good people will in turn form the basis of an informative and helpful network that itself is a form of protection.