It’s been a few weeks since my last article and I’ve made a few changes in my routine that will have a huge impact on this site.

Previously, I was managing a second site that took up some of my time. It wasn’t the time so much that was the concern, but rather the content of the site.

These two sites couldn’t have been more different in terms of content, style and focus. I found it frustrating to shift gears from one topic to the other.

I just wasn’t getting anything accomplished in either. There was too much-wasted energy and time. So, it was time to change.

Getting Ruthless

I decided to abandon the other site. It wasn’t easy – the ‘sunk cost’ factor is, unfortunately, a consideration that plagues many decisions. But, it was time to get  and get focused. By ruthless, I mean it couldn’t ever become a distraction in the future. I burned the bridges. The site is completely dismantled … files destroyed, all connections with social media, analytics, affiliates severed, all of it gone.

What remains is this … creativeGenesis. It now becomes my sole focus. I will get back to design. But just not WordPress or website design, but total design. Design for the web, design for a business and design for a life.

Big Design

The theme of design will become more prominent in my content.

Writing so far has been disjointed and too narrowly focused, that will change as well. Right now, I am focused on designing ‘workflows’ – a subject of my last article. As creative soloist, workflows are critical. Shipping content consistently demands efficiency. I am working to improve my efficiency to produce and share content on a consistent schedule. I will share my experiments and findings here.

I’m also exploring content curation – an area that I’ve been interested in for quite awhile. A few notable online entrepreneurs have been venturing into content curation lately and I am watching them closely as they are moving into areas outside their core online identities. I see content curation as a means to explore and share relevant material on my larger theme of design.

Portfolio Life

And that moves me into another area of interest – a ‘portfolio life’. The concept of a portfolio life came into some popularity several years ago. It was originally a concept conceived for retiring baby-boomers. As the customary beliefs of retirement collided with longer life spans, a ‘portfolio life’ envisioned a combination of traditional career skills and experiences with personal interests, learning and exploration to create an extended stream of creativity and accomplishment in later life.

With the economic upheaval of the past several years, a severe loss of confidence in government and corporate structures and tremendous advances in technology, people of all ages are are faced with designing a more non-traditional life either by choice or by circumstance. A ‘portfolio life’ is characterized by diverse, yet interrelated experiences, education, learning and technology. It should be a life that can accommodate rapid societal changes in finance, technology, mobility and freedom.

The future is going to be less stable. Traditional institutions are becoming less transparent, less honest and reliable, and, therefore, less relevant. Designing a life in the midst of the new chaos is a challenge. The ‘how’ is what intrigues me. I hope you’ll join me on the exploration.