How to balance Creativity and Productivity

How to touch the peak of creativity? How to scale the pinnacle of productivity? are these expectations in contradiction? Can each of us get the best of both?

Creativity is falling in love with the world – Dewitt Jones, Photographer

Staring at a picture of the brain with two halves rendered differently, I started wondering how this may help me find the answers.

My earliest encounter with the subject of creativity in its true understanding came from a short video called ‘Everyday Creativity’ by National geographic photographer Dewitt Jones during the late nineties.

Dewitt says in his video that we all have creativity in us, it is not something magical or mystical it is the ability to ‘look at the ordinary and see the extraordinary’.

A personal experience…

It was a beautiful winter morning in Bangalore and my task was to pick up a family member from the Cantonment Station. There also was a nagging pressure of a building design that involved resolving the façade. The train was running about 20 minutes late. I moved to one end of the platform where there were no people. Sitting on an old concrete bench, I pulled out my pocket notepad (those days we did not have mobiles) and started sketching. In a while the train arrived with a loud horn, I folded up my pocket notepad and headed back home receiving the family member.

Back in office, I opened the pad and to my surprise was a sketch, which turned into an amazing building façade. This episode made me realize the magic of ordinary waiting time resulting in extraordinary output of creativity and productivity bundled in to one.

We all have magic moments when things fall in place beautifully and many more frustrating pressure situations. Legendary Architect Frank Lloyd Wright seemingly had a penchant for starting design minutes before he had to present to his clients. While another contemporary, Le Corbusier had the habit of working undisturbed during mornings and arriving to office with ‘mature designs’ well past noon.

Does creativity happen in seclusion? Or in pressure and chaos? Is Creativity the enemy of Productivity?

My favourite trio… Are there simple, practical, doable techniques, available for developing Creativity and Productivity?

Creativity has nothing to do with any activity in particular. Creativity is the quality that you bring to the activity you are doing. It is an attitude, an inner approach – how you look at things – OSHO

Creativity

To quote Dewitt Jones from the movie ‘Everyday Creativity’

Every act has the potential to transform the ordinary into extraordinary, it’s just a matter of perspective. It’s about the lens we choose, our frame of reference and the right perspective. There is more than one right answer. Reframing a problem into an opportunity, being confident that the next right answer is around the corner and not being afraid of making a mistake, Dewitt highlights as his way of touching creativity all the time.

In being creative we really do fall in love with the world and in that act we transform the ordinary into the extraordinary – Dewitt Jones

The Condition

A conducive condition in my view is essential for Creativity to emerge. This is brought about by two levels the ‘inner condition’ and the ‘outer condition’.

A. Inner Condition

‘No-mind’ is consciousness without thought. Only in that way is it possible to think creatively, because only in that way does thought have any real power. – Eckhart Tolle

Mind as we all know is a thought-producing machine. The constant chatter, which is our compulsive nature, needs awareness. Any ‘practice’ that moves us from compulsive thinking habit to conscious awareness would bring about a ‘conducive condition’.

B. Outer Condition

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including yourself – Anne Lamott

Managing distractions is now more that ever, a skill one needs to develop in today’s world. Digital and physical distractions have to be managed everyday. Successful people have mastered the art of shutting off distractions for over 3-4 hours a day.

Space – Creative space is a subjective ingredient, for some like cluttered desk and some prefer cleaner environs. Being with nature, in a retreat setting or even a hotel room seem to be places for creativity to flourish.

The following four conditioning measures help greatly in tapping into the inexhaustible inner creative potential.

1.    Absence of Substance

Creative professionals believe in use of intoxication for getting creative outcomes. Caffeine, Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs do not boost creativity in real terms, they only balance the ‘mind chatter’ for creative energies to flow. These are not sustainable solutions! Our ability to create ‘conducive condition’ without the aid of external substance is important for sustained creativity moment to moment.

2.    Sleep

Creative professionals are known for working late into the night (or have an unsusual sleep pattern). This coupled with substance seems like a deadly combination of creativity? Science however has established the importance of good 7-8 hours sleep for enhanced creativity and productivity.

3.    Conscious Consumption

An overdose of consumption in the form of food or information leads to lethargy, fatigue and dullness. Needless to say these interfere with our creativity and productivity. A culinary diet coupled with information diet helps in greatly increasing the creative bandwidth.

4.    Meditation

Ability to bring a ‘gentle awareness’ to one thing is the best definition of meditation that I have heard. A daily practice of meditation in the morning and evening for about 30 minutes each can power our creativity immensely.

Productivity

The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities – Stephen Covey

I have had the good fortune of being in Stephen Covey’s 8th Habit seminar and to date his ‘Jar of BIG ROCKS’ analogy illustrated in ‘7 Habits of highly effective people’ and quadrant 2 approach (Pic Credit: Stephen R Covey) is the best I can relate to when it comes to productivity.

Time Management

We live in a world dominated by distractions, urgent things and crises or resort to procrastination in completing our simplest to most complex tasks. The time management strategies of putting first things first and beginning with the end in mind are wonderful tools to achieving fulfillment. We however may not be able to accomplish everything put down in our daily list, but at least we can go to bed with a sense of fulfillment if we have addressed the ‘Big Rocks’ of our day.

Time management is really about managing our priorities, in alignment with our life goals. Doing what’s really important, being in the NOW and overcoming the urgent tasks and distractions gradually.

Prime time

The discipline of focused 3 to 4 hours undisturbed work during the most ripe morning hours could lead to completing one’s highest goals, the ‘Big Rocks’.

Few daily habits for enhanced Productivity

A combination of daily routine coupled with ‘breaking the pattern’ habit in my view should provide the best balance between Creativity and Productivity.

On a given day we will not be able to trace whether one is in a creative frame of mind or focused on productivity. These two aspects are generally enmeshed in our mindset and are not easy to differentiate. But this should not be a botheration as the intent is to get the best of both Creativity and Productivity.

Here is a sketchy routine for Productivity

·      Morning meditation – 20 – 30 Minutes

·      Nature walk, workout or Yoga

·      Scheduling Priorities – 20 Minutes

·      Showering awareness – Great ideas are observed to descend during shower (while bathing)

·      Prime time – focus on one big task

·      Conscious eating – all meals

·      Taking creativity breaks – switching to activities that stimulate your creativity like petting the pet or music etc.

·      Scheduled time for – errands, returning calls and trivia

·      Evening relaxation & meditation – 20 Minutes or more

·      7 to 8 hours sleep

Conclusion

Creativity for me is a play of energies towards a joyful outcome. Deeper realisation is that I am only a witness to it and do not own it. Productivity is when I stay committed to a desirable outcome and seek nature’s support in realizing it. We do not have separate creativity and productivity moments; every moment is ripe with creativity and results in productivity when the right conditions (metaphysical and physical) are met.

Article By: Sathish Desai, Principal Architect & Designer at CERO, Bengaluru