Version 1.2 - 20th July 25

What is a Creative Emergency Cheat Sheet? You might think it's for serious emergencies. But fear not! I'm talking about a "Help, I'm having trouble with my creative work" kind of emergency sheet. Well, I have one, and I call it my "Notfallzettel", which is German for "emergency sheet", as you can see in the attached picture below.

Now I've turned my original cheat sheet into a Notion page for everyone to have/copy/share.

Notes on the cheat sheet: Solutions/Help have a link to a sub page for more information and context. They are duplicated for some problems, but if you want to see a list of all sub pages, go way down.

Move your mouse to the right for the table of contents → → →

Warning: This is my emergency cheat sheet on how I do things. To get anything out of it, you need to change it to something that will help you. Everyone needs individual solutions to different problems for their creative work.

Starting Problems

• Visualize what I want to accomplish and know that I can only succeed if I start now and stay committed.
• What would my alter ego do?
• Perform a pre-work ritual.
• Look at my motivation list.
• Break tasks down
• Just do something for 5 minutes.
• Take three deep breaths and focus on the moment.
• Recognize it’s Resistance or a Fixed Mindset.
• I only need 20 minutes!
• CBT: I don’t have trouble starting. I’m starting now.
• Countdown: 3, 2, 1, go!
• What is the next feasible action step?
• Discipline: Shift your mindset.
• I’m a Pro. A Pro shows up every day.

Insufficient Concentration

• Write down what’s on my mind.