It’s a funny thing about creativity. The very things that make you successful in other areas can be the things that stifle the spirit of discovery.
So much of our work is about busyiness, about doing things whether they make sense or not, just to feel like you’re doing something productive. Answering emails, checking blog posts, and diving down research rabbit holes may seem to move you forward, but often they don’t.
Creativity needs open space to emerge. It needs to bubble up from the subconscious, and it can’t do that if you fill your time with email, social media, and the minutiae of work. You have to let go and let creativity have a clear path.
Here’s how. Choose an activity that engages your body but leaves your mind free. Go for a drive or go for a run. Take a shower. Wash the dishes, walk the dog, or wander through a garden. Play catch with a grandchild. Don’t think too much. Don’t plan, prepare, or worry about results. Just let your mind roam.
It will return to you with new ideas, thoughts, and perceptions. You can’t plan for it, set quotas, or think in terms of goals.
If you wait and you are patient, good ideas will form just out of sight. While you are doing something else, they will glide into view at the edge of your vision.
The magic of creativity is this. When we seek it, creativity hides from us. When we make a place where it can land gently, creativity comes to visit.