If Your Work Requires A Lot Of Creativity, I Have A Question For You

And let me say that by creativity I mean figuring out how to pull out a unique resolution to your client’s needs and flip the shit out of the market. I talk about the creativity every designer puts into his work. I talk about the creativity the writer needs to dress up everything with the right words. The musician. The film director. This type of creativity.

So the question is:

Have you ever had a feeling that you are ZERO creative?

Like the words just don’t come out. Like you just can’t figure out what colours to use. Like you are just not in the right…creative condition.

Ever wondered why this happens?

Well, in a noisy world where creativity is praised before everything else (Because yes, people are tired of crappy and promotional content), if you want to stand out, you need to be creative. But not only in your work.

You need to be creative in your communication. Creative in your approach. Creative in your contribution. Creative in your schedule. Creative in your content. Everywhere. For everyone.

Let’s say there is a certain amount of creativity you can use. Then it runs out. And eventually refills again.

If we imagine every request for access to our creativity takes a certain portion of it, what would happen eventually?

You would run out of your precious resource. This is when you get into that un-creative hole I asked about in the question earlier.

So what happens then?

Well, you have an empty tank and a bucket full of deadlines, client expectations, content to create. And all you can complete at this moment is to get to your bed and sleep for the next three days.

Ever felt like this?

Congratulations. This means you really are doing something with your work.

So the next question should be…

How can I avoid it?

Well, logically, you got to make sure this so called creative bank never gets empty. Easy to say, hard to achieve. But possible. And quite enjoyable.

In a world where working late, having tight schedule and working on at least 2 side projects is considered successful, creatives may struggle.

Because yes, the whole idea of working 12 hours a day sounds exciting. And it’s fine. But draining your creativity for 12 hours a day, five to six days a week is a bit too much to ask for.

Okay, let’s say you work for 9 hours every day

Nice. Kind of above average. In these 9 hours we include moving around, meetings, breaks, slacking, shopping, writing emails and doing other things, non-related to your main goal for the day — to get real work done.

If we mix them all together in no order and just jump from task to task, we would end up tired, sad (because we would feel like we completed nothing) and stressed out.

So what should we, creatives, do instead?

Time-block. Yes, I’m sure you’ve seen the term somewhere else, but have you ever really tried it? Have you ever considered that your brain might have trouble functioning in total chaos? For instance, mine can’t.

If I want to really get something done, I have to time-block enough time to complete it, including earplugs, music and making a DO NOT FUCKING DISTURB ME sign out of my facial expression when someone tries to interrupt.

Wait, wait, wait…first of all, what does time-block mean?

The whole idea behind it is to assure you don’t get distracted when performing creative work. You basically predict when it’s possible to get distractions and make sure you’re done with your work before that.

So, let’s continue.

In an all-perfect reality, you took care of your time and prioritized, in this way got meaningful work done, felt happier at the end of the day and said goodbye to your colleagues with a bit wider smile.

You spent 9 hours working. What do you do with the other 15? Let’s say you sleep for 7 or 8 hours. This leaves you with 7–8 more hours.

What you do in these 7–8 spare hours will absolutely make the difference in your work.

You will use these 7–8 hours to fill up your creativity bank.

How?

By experiencing. By actually living.

The most brilliant painters observed for countless hours before they made their masterpieces. They stared at many orange skies. Fell in true love. And then painted their experiences.

The most brilliant writers have experienced many things in their lives. Thought about them. Dug deep. Understood what stands behind every experience. And wrote about them.

The most brilliant musicians listened to other brilliant musicians for countless hours. They experienced break ups, fell in love, lost people…and then wrote music about it.

Artists need to experience as many things as possible in life, so they turn those experiences into incredible pieces of work.

So dear creative, please:

Sleep more. Read more. Travel more. Spend more time with your significant other. Drink more wine. Skydive. Dance. Sing. Act. Drive at night. Make your children laugh.

Do whatever it takes to make good use of these 4–5 hours. Fill them up with experiences. Fill them up with emotions. Free your soul from the 9–5 jail. Observe. Feel. Think. Dig deep. Deeper. And then take what your grabbed to the surface and dress it with your art.

Dear creative, please, make good use of these hours. The world needs you. We need creativity. We need beauty. We need inspiration. We need pieces of art. We need you.

Michael.