All posts tagged making ideas happen

How to be “creative”

By on January 11, 2011 in Ideas with 8 Comments

I’ve always wanted to be creative.

Most who know me would consider me a creative person. My friends would probably be surprised to know that, at least until recently, I didn’t consider myself a real “creative.”

Here’s why:

I used to think “creative” people needed to be high-strung, unorganized, spontaneous, never sleep and play the guitar.

This notion was first developed in high school. My “creative” friends smoked a lot of pot, played in bands, and seemed to have very creative ideas.

The perception continued to grow in college. It was considered a badge of honor to stay up all night working on creative projects for class. I had friends who seemed to pull abstract, brilliant ideas out of thin air. And, most of my “creative” friends played in a band.

Here’s me: I’m extremely understated. I like organization. I’m the opposite of spontaneous. I enjoy a regular sleep schedule. And I don’t play the guitar.

Dang.

What I’m learning, much to the credit of The 99%, is that the best creatives are actually very regimented. Their creativity comes as a result of tedious habits and relentless resolve.

For example, some say the key to productive creativity is getting up early, something that contradicts the brilliant night-owl-artist stereotype.

Take author John Grisham for example (from Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen):

When he first started writing, Grisham explained in an interview with the San Fransicisco Chronical, he had “these little rituals that were silly and brutal but very important”:”The alarm clock would go off at five, and I’d jump in the shower. My office was five minutes away. And I had to be at my desk, at my office, with the first cup of coffee, a legal pad, and write the first word at 5:30, five days a week.” Grisham’s goal: to write a page every day. Sometimes that would take ten minutes, sometimes an hour; often he would write for two hours before he had to turn to his job as a lawyer, which he never especially enjoyed.”

So, for whatever it’s worth, remember that “creative” is not a label for a privileged few. It is available to anyone willing to do the work.

(Photo by Nasir Nasrallah)

Insecurity Work

By on June 17, 2010 in Ideas with 3 Comments

I’m feeling very unproductive lately. Feels like it takes me forever to get anything done. Do you ever hit a slump? My assessment is that I’m too distracted. Too many ideas, not enough discipline.

I’m reading a book called Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. The book was recommended by my friend Sean Womack.

A particular section hit me right between the eyes today. The author refers to my little problem as “Insecurity Work.” Here’s what he says:

As you introduce your ideas to the world, you are bound to become anxious about what the world thinks. You will want to frequently observe the progress you are making and confirm the status of everything you’ve created. This is a normal tendency, even though the root of it is often an unfounded insecurity–a fear that you’ve overlooked something or will ultimately fail. While we all have different insecurities, most of us share a common approach to dealing with them: we seek information to make our anxiety go away. For some, this amounts to countless hours spent reviewing traffic reports for Web sites, scrutinizing bank balances and every transaction in your business, reviewing Twitter search feeds for your business, getting daily e-mails with every piece of data you can imagine–the list goes on. Basking in the data makes us feel better.

I call this daily (and in some cases hourly) habits “Insecurity Work.” It’s the stuff you do that has no intended outcome, does not move the ball forward in any way, and is quick enough that you can do it multiple times a day without realizing how much time is being wasted. While all of these actions are important once in a while, there is no rational reason to perform them so often.

Your constant need for assurance becomes a shackle on your productivity.

That is totally me! Ugh.

One small thing I’ve done is organize my bookmarks into three categories: Be Productive, Research, and Goof Off.

bookmarks

What about you? How do you stay focused?