You may have noticed my blog’s rebranding over the last few months. This obviously wasn’t an accident- so what made me choose the words “Productive” and “Creative” connected this way?
“Productive” means the ability to produce prolific output.
“Creative” means the ability to create something original.
“Productive/Creative” is the idea of creating something original, but with consistent, ongoing output. What’s the point of being creative if you can’t consistently produce things? And what’s the point of producing output if it’s just the same old stuff over and over?
Productive. Creative. Get it? Cool.
But how are they related?
Process, and The Three Questions
To understand the relationship between the two you have to understand that creativity happens as a process, and the better that process is, the more productively you will create.
The easiest way to define a successful Process is with a few simple questions:
- Is it easily repeatable?
- Is it financially feasible?
- Is it time efficient?
You can divide the Creative process into two halves: Inspiration, and Execution. These three questions apply to both!
For example, I could say “I was inspired to create when I walked through the Grand Canyon.” Well, yeah, that’s pretty inspiring. But can you walk through the Grand Canyon on a regular basis- often enough to create daily? Probably not. This isn’t easily repeatable for most people.
I could also say “I’m really inspired to create when I have a $200 dinner at a 4-star restaurant in Paris.” Okay. Can you do that every couple of days? Probably not. That’s not financially sustainable, unless you’re already independently wealthy.
“I was inspired to create after a month-long journey of self-discovery through the desert.” That’s awesome, but can you do that on a regular basis? Is that enough to drive you to create every single day?
Inspiration from one-time events or lavish, exotic places is fantastic and amazing, but it’s not something you can do over and over. Your process for inspiration needs to be something you can dig into repeatedly, without running out of ideas.
Some ideas for sustainable inspiration could be:
- Coffee table photo books
- Walks in the park
- Themed radio music stations
- Books of poetry or short stories
- Botanical gardens
- Aquariums
- Planetariums
- Zoos
- Museums
- “Places of inspiration” Pinterest boards
All of these can be relatively low-cost, easy access sources of inspiration. But even so, people still get easily hung up on executing their ideas:
“I want to record an album, but I live in a tiny apartment. I need access to a professional recording studio.”
“I want to write full time, but it takes me all day to write a single chapter with all the distractions.”
“I want to paint, but all my stuff is borrowed and at my aunt’s house, and I only get to go there once a month.”
Not only does your Inspiration need to be sustainable, but so does your method of productivity. What good is your most inspired creative streak if you can’t find the time and place to make it happen? There are plenty of simple, cheap ways to record and produce ideas:
- Voice memos
- Snapping pictures of something beautiful
- Sketch notebooks and pencils
- Index cards for ideas
- Recording sounds with your phone or pocket recorder
- Cheap or free writing software
There are as many ways to produce creative workflow as there are creators. You just have to discover yours.
Don’t Hobble Your Creativity
Believing you can only be Creative or Productive under extremely rare circumstances is actually limiting yourself. Your brain is the core source of your creativity, so what you have to do is trick your brain into getting into a creative state on your terms. You don’t actually have to be in a studio to close your eyes and imagine what a song sounds like. You don’t have to have access to expensive things to write lyrics, or imagine what Paris looks and smells like in the summer. You don’t have to repeatedly hike the Grand Canyon to remember, and be inspired by, its beauty.
Ultimately, you can learn to be inspired by simple things if you allow your mind to be deeply immersed in them, and let your imagination go wild. And you can produce quality, interesting things anywhere with inexpensive tools, if you are really inspired.
So what’s holding you back? Only your brain.
Dig in, get inspired, and create something!