Hacking Creativity: What Tracking Every Minute It Took to Write a Book Taught Me About Creativity

Can tracking creativity help you be more productive? Will listening to binaural beats unlock some secret source of creativity? If all you have is 30 minutes per day and a lifetime supply of self-doubt, is it possible to power through and write a book?

In 2017, I decided to write a modern road trip novel and track every minute of the book project into a spreadsheet called the Spreadsheet of Life. I shared my findings in my TEDx talk, but this article will go deeper. Strap in.

Why I Started Hacking Creativity

• To find out how long it takes to write a book
• To discover ways to stay productive
• To keep myself accountable and gamify writing
• To inspire others to embrace their creativity
• To have something substantial to market my book with

What You’ll Learn in This Article

This article is a deep dive into the different aspects of my attempt to hack creativity–with plenty of actionable tips to go with it.