Why Did Steve Jobs Wear the Same Clothes?
To be creative is our nature. To waste it is our (bad) habit
You don’t need to be a genius to be the next Steve Jobs.
All you need is a turtleneck and a pair of jeans. It’s funny how a set of clothes can be so connected to a single person. But it was only possible because Steve Jobs dressed so consistently.
Interestingly, this particularity wasn’t exclusive to him. Other figures, most famously Mark Zuckerberg, do it too. Isn’t it strange that being so creative and innovative, they aren’t such with their clothing?
Looking at the dizzy heights of their success, it doesn’t seem right to say they’re lazy or poor. Nay, it’d be ridiculous. So what’s the secret behind this curious behavior? And, if there indeed is one, what could it teach us?
We’re all the killers of our creative potential
What does it take to be creative? Let’s say you were to design a new revolutionary phone. What would have to happen in your brain to get an idea as innovative as Steve Jobs’s?
You’d need to challenge the obvious.
You’d need to expose yourself to:
- miscellaneous materials
- cutting-edge technology
- bottlenecks of design and efficiency, etc.
You’d need to process a ton of information in your brain.
And that requires enormous brain power. A brain power that most of us lack nowadays. Yet, this lack isn’t a perpetual state. The problem doesn’t lie with our brains but with how we use them.
I’m sure you are well aware of the ridiculous impact that social media has on our brains. So, I won’t go on about it; instead, I’d like to address a subtler problem.
Let’s start with the question: how do most of us go through our daily routines? Well, we wake up, we choose what to wear, what to eat, what to listen to on the way–the list goes on and on.
And guess what effect these endless petty choices have on your brain? This study has shown that each decision takes a toll on your energy.
Given how many choices we make throughout the day, it’s no wonder our brains don’t have the energy to be creative.
Creativity is in your power (although you waste it)
Every morning when you ask yourself what to wear, Zuckerberg sees this:
A decision “what to wear?” was made by him only once, but for good. This way, he can save a lot of mental energy that will be invaluable later when pursuing his creative work.
By including more elements–you can take advantage of this approach on an even bigger scale. For example, don’t decide what to eat every morning, but plan the menu for a whole week. Or at least plan one for tomorrow.
Remember, you don’t have to do everything the same way for the rest of your life for this to work. Nowhere did I say you have to be as extreme as Jobs or Zuckerberg.
For instance, I enjoy picking various outfits because I appreciate good style. Thus, I’d never give up on creating them. That is an example of an area where I like to be thoughtful.
There are, however, even more instances where I happily follow the default. So, take the burden off where it isn’t necessary; leave it when you enjoy it.
To inspire you, I’ll share a counter-productive habit I used to have before I got smarter. Because I travel by public transport quite often, there are times when I’m late for a particular bus.
What I do now is patiently wait for the next one to arrive. Before, however, I used to contemplate all other possibilities of commuting–all in hopes of arriving these three minutes faster.
It felt like a little game, even a somewhat adventurous one: I didn’t have to stay in one place but be in motion. Yet, it was a total waste of time and energy.
I’m sure you, too, have such uneconomical quirks to get rid of. Plan a default for them, and see your energy return to where it belongs.
The Second Brain: unlock your creative superpowers
The essential message of the previous paragraph is to take the load off your brain. Making fewer decisions is one way to do that.
Another way you could achieve that is by writing down everything you need to remember. I mean everything: ideas, obligations, meetings, tasks, reminders, shopping lists, etc.
I’m sure you have many of these; this is why you must keep them somewhere safe. Otherwise, they’ll haunt your thoughts, depleting your mental energy.
So, put everything related to your day-to-day life into a calendar, to-do list, or journal. Do the same thing with your ideas–either work or life-related.
The complexity of this system depends on your needs. Some people are satisfied with a paper journal. Others go for more advanced tools, like Notion.
If you’d like to know more about this topic, I recommend you read Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. It’s a truly life-changing book.
Key takeaways
We all have the potential to be creative. However, we tend to waste it by burdening our brains with unnecessary trivialities.
These are:
- An immeasurable amount of micro-decisions we make throughout the day.
Solution: make your decisions controllable by setting default options and behaviors ahead of time. - Trying to remember all ongoing issues.
Solution: write down everything: ideas, tasks, obligations, meetings, etc.
Remember, creativity is in your power–but you have to allow it to happen.
And do you, my dear reader, have some valuable ways to take the load off your brain? If so, please do share it with the rest of us in the comments!
This way, we can learn from each other and become more creative creatures. A valuable pursuit, indeed.
