It started as a small idea. We wanted to document and share the experiences and models we used. The idea was simple: we write an article, maybe two, and see where it leads. But like so many other things in life, things change when you take the first steps. It’s when you start moving forward that you see what you can’t see if you stand still.
And now, just over two years later, we can look back and see that there have been 365 posts. A whole vintage of texts about creativity, innovation and sustainability. It feels good in a way.
When you see new things on the way
We have always been fascinated by how the world opens up when you move forward. It’s like standing at the beginning of a path in the forest. You can think for hours about what’s around the bend, but you only see new things when you start walking. That’s how it has been writing. We had no idea what we would discover along the way.
For example, we thought we could already write quite well, but quickly discovered that it is a completely different art to arrange content when you have to do it day after day (we are a little ashamed of the first articles and may update them). We thought that writing was only about the content, but realized that routines and structure to get everything on a coherent website actually take a lot of time and energy when you have to do it a 100 times, despite today’s good website systems.
And perhaps most surprising: that by writing ourselves, we actually began to see new connections in the models we thought we already knew inside and out.
AI images, language and the small routines
What made us start writing was actually an unexpected thing. We wanted to test AI generation of images. We always thought that purely text-based articles were boring and drawing images would take a long time and thus focus away from writing. With image generation, it became more fun, and at the same time we got to experience up close on how image generation was developing during the time we were writing.
We also started experimenting with different languages. All articles are published in both Swedish and English. This has made us more linguistically flexible and given us an unexpected ability to more easily jump between domain specific terms in both languages. It was not something we planned, but it has made it easier to switch languages even in speech.
Routines have also emerged. We usually write about six articles at a time, which are allowed to develop from time to time until they are ready. Publishing has become its own learning process, where we have developed systems to speed up publishing. By this we free up time that corresponds to more than a work week per year. Time that we can spend on writing and keep up the pace, which in turn makes it fun to continue.
When writing changes the way we see the world
One of the greatest insights has been that writing is not only a reflection of our learning, but also a lens for us to see society. When we write about different models for innovation or sustainability, they suddenly become tools for understanding news, events and social development. Instead of getting stuck in sensational journalism, we can relate the world around us to methods and theories, which often means we see events in a new light.
It has also made us more confident in what we can do. When we write, we reflect more, and the reflections make us more familiar with more methods when we work. It’s like the library of knowledge is not just on a website, but in our pocket.
1000 days, 365 articles and other streaks
Writing is not the only thing we have done. We have also built other “streaks” that have trained our creativity and perseverance. We have played Wordle for 1000 days in a row to train our vocabulary (at 1000 days, we often felt that the stress became too great to break the streak, so we stopped). Some have done 365 days on Duolingo in Spanish (we originally intended to write in three languages, but it didn’t work out). We read about 12-15 books per person per year. We have been creating creative triggers for 100 days and have also started experimenting with vibe-coding to build digital tools, see the lab, but we still have a long way to go with that.
All these projects are small examples of the same thing: you learn when you do.
What we didn’t do
But it’s clear that when you invest in something, you sacrifice other things. We could have exercised more, started a band, played more games, computer games or started building advanced Lego structures. We could have started with farming or board games and playful activities. The list is long and we don’t know if we chose the right thing to do. But maybe that’s exactly what makes the choice interesting. When you choose something, you notice if the learning that follows makes us want to continue.
What you can do
If you also want to do, but don’t know where to start, you can do something very simple. You can read one article a day on effectivemind.com for a whole year and see if you change your creative mind to be more effective. There are now 365 articles on creativity, innovation and sustainability. We can promise you that you will discover things you didn’t see at first. Because that’s how it works. When you take a step forward, new perspectives open up.
What do we do now?
We follow our convictions and avoid external pressure on what to do, so we do the same thing that we hope we have inspired you to do, we do what suits us ;-)
But right now we are happy that we have reached a milestone, 365 posts on effectivemind.com
