Amy Waldman Quotes

You don't have to work for Google, or any of the other firms encouraging staff to pursue personal projects on company time, to use slowness to unlock your creativity. Anyone can do it. Start by clearing space in your schedule for rest, daydreaming and serendipity. Take breaks away from your desk, especially when you get stuck on a problem.

I always have days off before and after I go to the studio. That's really important for me that I know that I have days off after, 'cause then I can give my everything when I'm in the studio. I love being in the studio and being able to think, 'Okay, I'm not doing anything tomorrow.'

Believe me, that nap is better than sitting there for three hours and nothing's coming. I've learned that even if I've slept nine hours and I just finished breakfast, if I feel sleepy when I'm in front of that computer, I'll take a nap. And it really does help.

I tell my staff, 'Give me your best, and then go home and live your life.' I've never asked anyone to work harder, but I've told plenty that they needed rest.

Everyone is always telling me that I must be exhausted, but I've learned how to use my time well, and that includes holidays to recharge. I always try to give myself big chunks of time to think about what the next project is going to be.

My girlfriend is much better than I am at working hard then resting, and she demands that from me, too. She insists on having time when we don't do anything. We leave the housework and watch a movie.

The siesta provides a delightful detour from the working day and it also has a practical value as far as productivity is concerned. Winston Churchill had a good long siesta every day during the Second World War, and he said it was the thing that enabled him to cope with the pressure.

Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.

Sometimes, when I have a lot of ideas and I want to do a lot of things, or when I'm traveling, I lose energy and I can't do as many things as I want. So I have to plan days when I'm not doing anything. I find that a bit boring, but it's necessary.

I realized the more fun I had, the more relaxed I was working, the better I worked.

I don't read much when I'm working. When I'm finished work, I don't want a thing to do with words.

I'm always on the go. I love doing things until I hit rock bottom. Then I need my 12 hours of sleep, and I'm on the go again.

Don't worry about breaks every 20 minutes ruining your focus on a task. Contrary to what I might have guessed, taking regular breaks from mental tasks actually improves your creativity and productivity. Skipping breaks, on the other hand, leads to stress and fatigue.

Going off the grid is always good for me. It's the way that I've started books and finished books and gotten myself out of deadline dooms and things.

I make myself lie down every afternoon; otherwise I'll be too exhausted by the night-time. If I can't nap, I'll watch a little bit of TV and just relax for two or three hours.

I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it's not a waste of time.

My ideal is to write most of the day, then go running, find friends and socialise all evening; my mind recharges with human contact.

I want to work every day. I don't work every day. When I finish something, people ask me, 'You gonna chill for a little while?' I'm like, 'No. I chill on Sunday afternoon.' I need to be engaged.

I can very much enjoy taking a year off. Whereas some people would feel crippled by that, I can feel enlarged by it. And then I also like to work nonstop, maybe for a year-and-a-half, and then take a year off.

I definitely like not working sometimes. It's so fun. I just love sleeping in. In America, everyone is driven to succeed and wake up and do something. But I don't care. I want to sleep in. I want to relax. I don't want to have to get up every day.

You need balance in your life all-around. When you find that balance and relax and get away from the game a little bit - and when you come back, you just go that much harder.

I often get very tired but I'll just have a good sleep and a day off and then I'm fine to go again.

If I'm stuck in the midst of a story, I take a nap. It often works, and if it doesn't, I still feel better.

I've been working so hard that I'm exhausted... I feel I won't be able to do without a few weeks' rest, so I'm going off to see the sea.

You gotta know when to be lazy. Done correctly, it's an art form that benefits everyone.