work / livelihood

The Big Fat, Very Essential Question in Neil Gaiman’s Wise Words

As ever, Neil Gaiman nails it. But there’s a big fat, very essential question buried in his wonderful words…

Jocelyn Glie’s Newsletter: Ideas for Finding Creativity and Meaning Delivered to Your Inbox

Among the email newsletters I subscribe to, From the Curious Mind of Jocelyn K. Glei is one where I always find something that challenges my thinking and/or makes my life better.

‘Don’t try’ and other Practical Wisdom from Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski said many wise things in his life. We especially like is antodote for depression and burnout, and his views on “trying”…

Alisa Barry’s Encouragement Cards + Care Packages

A couple of weeks ago, a big cardboard box arrived in the mail with an unusual sticker on it: BE BRAVE. What we found inside blew us away.

How to Fight a Mall-Like Internet!

When long-time blogger Tina Bray described the looming probability of a mall-like internet, it hit home HARD. There’s a simple, inexpensive way to stem the tide….

Mira Keras’ Rule of ReInvention

Improvised Life Editorial Assistant Mira Keras also happens to be a tattoo artist recently featured in Buzzfeed. She developed a survivalist’s approach to right-livlelihood that works for both Millenials and Boomers navigating rough economic seas.

Morph Your Ancient Laptop (even Macs) into a ChromeBook

After Improvised Life’s part-time editorial assistant Mira Keras had a health challenge that lasted months, causing extended leave from her two steady gigs, her laptop broke. It happened just as she was feeling well enough to return to virtual work at Improvised Life AND when her emergency-slammed finances were at an all-time low. She told me about…

A Few Tools for Getting Unstuck + Amy Friend

Getting STUCK, whether in a relationship, decision-making process, or career path, is very much part of being human. In our productivity-obsessed society, it is an especially big concern. Here are some approaches we’ve found that work.

GutenTag’s Graphical Day Planner Inspired Our Own

We’ve tried numerous day/task planners in our quest for one that really works. We recently came across a graphical way to plan time that claims to liberate us from linear agendas and apps. The GutenTag Method features a clock face that you stamp into a notebook so you can graph you day around it. We found downsides and wonderful benefits once we started hacking the idea.

When It’s Important to JUST SAY NO (Lady Gaga)

(Video link here) At Improvised life, we often preach saying YES….but here’s the catch: Sometimes saying yes to what’s right for us also means saying no to things we feel obligated to do…things we may do because of some old-fashioned guilt, or because others are making us feel like we “have to”. In a recent talk…

Inspiring Messy Workspaces of Famous Creatives

(Video link here.) They Might Be Giant’s just released their new song I Made a Mess, which is a sort of homage to something we strongly believe (#12 in our Manifesto): Making a mess is an essential part of improvising. Here, then, is our visual ode to wondrous in-flux workspaces of some spectacular creatives to view while you…

Jim Henson on Making Art Make Money (Money as Energy)

Puppet artist Jim Hensen’s illuminating view of money was partial fuel for Improvised Life’s new Friends with Benefits program, through which we hope to continue to make “concrete things happen out of worthy ideas”, with our heart and principles intact.

“Do What You Love” Every Day in Small Doses…

Recently, Sally showed me Gordon Marino’s NY Times article, “A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love”. The gist: the oft-repeated 21st century American mantra of following your true passions — instead of dull but reliable career paths — is misguided. There’s a hint of naïve entitlement to making “Do What You Love” the be-all-end-all answer to the workday blues, just…

Improvised Life WITH Ads (NOT)

Lately, we’ve been mulling ways to support Improvised Life. One thing we’re sure of: we hate ads on websites. Even though we understand the economic realities that make ads a part of life, we’re going to see if we can find another way to keep Improvised Life afloat AND a clear space, full of unique ideas.

The Human Library: Check Out People Instead of Books

With libraries quickly reformulating their mission statements to survive, this innovative library believes stories are much better shared when they come from the source. At the Human Library, you actually borrow a person who has stories to tell gathered from a unique life experience. “For half an hour, you can sit down with a prostitute,…

Unusual Paths: Why Give Up Celebrity to Become a Buddhist Nun?

In this quiet, yet curiously fast-moving 7-minute video portrait, Chudrun explains what led her away from a life of celebrity, drugs and materialism at the host of BBC’s Top Gear to one of reflection, compassion and ritual as a Buddhist nun. Her leap onto what might seem an opposite path and the willingness to change is at the very heart of improvising.

What To Do When Lost, Creatively or Professionally

Often as we curate content for Improvised Life, we’ll find that posts from different blogs and sites resonate with one another, as if finishing each other’s thoughts. Recently, an article in 99U about a driven entrepeneur feeling that his work was HIM seemed to echo what many people we know have struggled with: That their…

messy or neat workspace: which is best for you?

Remodelista recently published the winner of the Best Reader-Submitted Office Space in their Considered Design Awards. We find the image of the office downright eerie: not a paper in sight, no evidence of…a person, the opposite of Einstein’s desk, where you could practically hear his thoughts. It made us think about our conceptions of workspaces;…

artful improvised receipt storage (via maria robledo)

We found this wonderful image on Maria Robledo’s Instagram. Ohhh, what a great method of storing receipts (emptying pockets or bag then-and-there.) Thrown into a space between books —some amazing ones at that— they take on a curious beauty. We have a box in an easily-accessible file cabinet that we throw them into to collate…

a busy office disappears behind hafele’s sliding wall

For the renovation of my 1,000-square-foot ‘Laboratory’ in New York City, my mission was to open up the space to the spectacular park view AND fluidly accomodate an open kitchen, workspace, dining area, and living area. To do this, I removed a small bedroom to dramatically expand the main room and built an office area along one 15′ wall…

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