Creativity vs. Productivity
I used to think that creativity and productivity were opposites, two sides of the spectrum vying for my time. Productivity was efficiency, hard work, that overdue assignment. Creativity was freedom, blogging for fun or going for walks to ponder the big questions of life. I used to think that I needed to carve out more time for creativity in a world pushing me towards productivity.
But my perspective shifted after discovering a simple equation from Scott Belsky’s book “Making Ideas Happen.” Belsky says that, “Creativity x Productivity = Impact.” A poet who dreams up hundreds of lines per day and never writes anything down would have no impact. 10 x 0 = 0. A writer who was quite unimaginative but consistently put in the time writing and frequently shared their work would have at least some impact. 3 x 10 = 30.
“Creativity x Productivity = Impact” — Scott Belsky
Productivity and creativity don’t live on opposite ends of a spectrum, they are both ingredients to making stuff that has meaning, purpose and impact. However, maximizing creativity and productivity requires two different approaches.
Coming up with creative ideas depends on being observant, asking questions and making connections between different topics. Creativity feeds on open spaces, on reading widely and jotting down those thoughts from the shower.
Productivity feeds on action items, on scheduled time-blocks, on planners and to-do lists. Productivity requires discipline, focus and prioritization.
When integrating productivity and creativity into our lives, we should treat them as complementary and intersecting partners. We can integrate creative practices into our productivity: color-coding our schedule, organizing our ideas on sticky notes, or finding workspaces that inspire us. Similarly, we can integrate productive elements into our creativity: scheduling time to journal, reading or writing down ten ideas about a topic
Creativity and productivity might be opposites, but they’re still close friends. And ultimately, learning to maximize both will maximize our impact.
