slow motion multitasking

I am a big fan of ‘Slow Motion Multitasking’ which in broad strokes is:

“when we have several projects in progress at the same time, and we move from one to the other and back again as the mood takes us or the situation demands” — Tim Harford.

I find this process incredibly useful when working on my own projects as it helps my brain feel less stagnant and I think ultimately creates more interesting and dense stories (my favourite kind).

To me, making Summer Camp felt like the ultimate in slow motion multitasking. Going from the writers room where we were writing one episode, to a design meeting where we were laying out another, we rarely felt stagnant (though often felt pooped) and one department was always informing the other. What was most important within this process was the artists who worked on the show. When one of us was feeling a little uninspired, there was always someone else who had a better nights sleep, or could think of a better joke, and that support system kept us all going and felt essential for being able to sustain a television show for as long as we did.

This newsletter is an attempt to cultivate that same feeling; sharing fun facts, articles, rituals, my own art and those of others, in the hopes that one might plant a seed in someone who is feeling a little stuck, and help them want to keep making their own art. This will be a small and gentle addition to the already brilliant and dense world of substacks.

Selfishly, I am creating this newsletter to help me feel a little more tethered to the world and the artists within it. It’s been percolating in my mind for a while, and much like all the slow motion multitasking in my life, it feels like i’m just following a thread:

For now, this newsletter is a bit of an experiment and will be released with no particular structure. But I love structure so most likely one will happen soon!