HOW CRISIS SHAPES CREATIVITY
Have you ever been in a hard spot where you thought a task was beyond achievable? Somehow, it just seemed way above you, and you worried about how you would ever accomplish it.
It could be from that employer who took the “I can work under pressure” line on your CV too seriously or that extra gig you accepted because the promise of money sang your name too sweetly. It could even be the looming deadline in front of you — yes, that very one you procrastinated on, only to have NEPA show you ‘pepper’ a few hours to its completion.
In many cases, when you are saddled with such tasking responsibility or seemingly impossible situations, you still end up delivering a good job.
Isn’t that incredible?
Crises CAN push you to create amazing things
You will face many challenges as a young professional, especially if you’re a digital creative in not-so-sane climes (cough collapsing national grid cough).
You can also bring avoidable crises on yourself (Yes, you know you do) when you procrastinate or accept too many gigs at a time because you think you’re Superman.
Sometimes, however, these crises can be good because they show you how capable you are. They can help you realize that maybe you’re, in fact, the (low-budget) Superman in your niche.
Do you remember how you still met that impossible deadline or provided that hectic service, to the surprise of all involved, especially yourself?
Research has shown that although crises can be deeply troubling and anxiety-provoking, they can also be an essential catalyst for creative action and innovative outcomes. During times of crisis, our typical forms of reasoning and action may no longer serve us, and we are forced to develop new ways of thought and action.
Without some types of crises, we might not experience that radical spark or speed that helps us create some fantastic results. So, naturally, we defer on bold decisions when there’s no pressure. Maybe this is why we procrastinate or plan our work ineffectively.
Does this mean that operating in crisis mode is the way to go?
No, it doesn’t mean that you should procrastinate some more. (I know that’s what you’re thinking, lazy smartass).
Instead, this experience should tell you that crises are a significant part of the work experience.
However, to progress in your career or skill and maintain your mental health, you must create a system that ensures you deliver excellent work in good time and without unnecessary tension or avoidable crisis. When you find yourself in panic mode, constantly rushing to deliver work at the last minute, this can create an unhealthy work cycle that often results in intense fear and anxiety.
So, how can you get out of this cycle?
Our typical approach to work and productivity isn’t very effective.
We like to feel busy doing irrelevant things and avoid challenging parts of the task by telling ourselves that we have enough time to finish it, so we should take our time on it and wait for that ‘big idea’ moment. But eventually, when faced with looming deadlines, we rush to finish the work.
We often fill our time with random little activities that ‘feel’ like work but don’t provide significant progress on the project — until the deadline is close, which inevitably leads to a crisis.
We then have to beg God, the universe, and our ancestors to come through for us in bestowing us with a creative spell.
Thus, we often find ourselves stuck within Zeno’s Paradox of Productivity:
“Give me any project, and I can fill days with easy, fun little tasks on the project without ever finishing it.”
This is not the way successful creatives work.
The best creatives are super-focused on building systems that enable them to complete their tasks in time. As a result, they often face their work responsibilities head-on. Once a project is on their to-d0 list, they put im the necessary work at the right time and ensure that it is done to the best of their abilities.
According to productivity expert Ali Abdaal, this constant stream of finishing tasks and projects builds up over time and leads to big breaks. Abdaal also recommends that if you want to get stuff done rather than just ‘feel’ productive, you should adopt completion-centric planning. This simply means at the beginning of your work day, identify your most important project and ask yourself, “what’s the closest I can get to finishing this today?”
By adopting this completion-centric productivity system, you can get more important work done and reduce your stress levels, knowing that you have made significant progress towards a goal that matters.
In one of the most productive periods of his work life, Abdaal shared how he completed working on four whole book chapters in four days. In many cases, having a personal project like this, with no strict deadline, would have us procrastinating heavily, then rushing to finish it at the last minute with a burst of high inspiration, only to exhaust the creativity fuel and abandon it again for another long time.
However, by adopting the completion-centric planning system, Abdaal was laser-focused on finishing one chapter, beginning to end, every single day. According to him, on the considerably busy third day, even after a midnight swim, he returned to his laptop at 1.30 am to write the last few paragraphs of the day. He simply decided to get the damn chapter done. And it worked.
This is a good kind of ‘crisis,’ in which the systems you have created compel you towards real productivity and not just some inflated sense of daily busyness.
Finally, try asking yourself, “How close can I get to finishing my most important project today?” and actually follow through with the answer. You’ll notice how much more fulfilled you would be.
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