I you want a true be a true leader in the world, you have to know what the best know. Since Pac-Man has been chewing up the competition for over 30 years now, it would be wise for us to pay attention.

For those not familiar with with Super-Pac-Man, you not only have the normal power pellets that turn the ghosts blue so you can eat them, but you have Super Power Pellets that make you 4x the size of the ghosts and you can move at 4 times the speed. Like all power pellets, their supply is limited along with the effects power pellet.

The secret is that when you eat this power pellet, you know the effects are going to wear off soon. So what you do is eat a regular power pellet. This turns all the ghosts blue and enhances your Super Powers for a bit longer. In this way, you can speed through a whole level in a fraction of the time.

So, what does this have to do with our narrative art leadership?

First, I don’t condone taking any type of power pellet (aka drug), but I do condone … operating from your power source. When you are operating from your power source and you are moving and grooving, don’t stop. Keep right on going working through the night. When you are in the “zone” of highly productive activity, you will get much more accomplished in probably that one session, than you will all week when you are not in the zone.

Second, when you are in “the zone”. Stay there as long as possible. When you wake up, attack it again. day after day after day, let it consume you. As much free time as you have devote to feeding off that energy to accomplish your task. Eventually, you will fall out of “the zone” and have to go back to rely on tried and true consistent measures to continually get your work done…like scheduling to consistently get better every day. The problem is you won’t operate as good–or as best — or as fast–you can unless you are in the “zone”. This is why people can color whole comic books in a 2 day stretch as opposed to taking a month to do it.

Finally, rest. After an incredibly exhaustive, productive, imaginative, forward moving session of being in “zone” and getting a lot of creative work done, rest. Turn off the game. Go to sleep.