A new study from the Paris Brain Institute reveals that human creativity has evolved over time, with an increase from 1990 to 1998. Creativity can be seen as a continuum, from problem-solving consultants to grand projects by artists and scientists. The experiment is one of many novel ways psychologists are studying the science of creativity. At an individual level, creativity can be cultivated, and a rich history of concepts and ideas related to creativity has brought many ideas to the table of contemporary thought. Late bloomers reach creative peaks at ages when early bloomers are past their prime, so it is possible to stay creative throughout.
The creativity crisis has clear implications as our world grows more complex. An IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the most crucial factor for success. AI has been found to boost individual creativity at the expense of less varied content. Creativity remains an essential skill for students, teachers, and educational leaders, and it doesn’t disappear, even if you haven’t acknowledged it for a while.
Four recent studies shed new light on the notion of creativity, including the theory of “direct flights” and the importance of connecting schools and colleges worldwide to place creativity-infused learning at the center of education. People are just as creative as ever, but their tool for creativity has been effectively closed off to most people. Throughout the pandemic, some people discovered creative outlets as a helpful way to process their unfamiliar circumstances and feelings.
📹 Creative Journal Flip Through (so far this year)
Join me as I flip through my daily journaling in my sterling ink common planner and get inspiration for documenting your memories …
How is creativity increased?
Engaging in various activities can boost creativity and motivation. Walking, eating a snack, reading a book, talking to a loved one, and taking a quick nap can provide a break from the project and spark new ideas. Engaging in physical activities can also provide a sense of relaxation and inspiration. Reading a favorite book or magazine can also help regenerate the brain. Interacting with others can also provide a brain break and spark new ideas. Taking a quick nap can provide energy for creative processes.
Creative degrees offer unique opportunities to learn and grow in various fields, such as advertising and graphic design, dance, digital design, digital film, music, social media, and theatre and drama. These programs cater to specific art disciplines and can help students develop their skills and passions. Overall, engaging in various activities can help boost creativity and motivation.
Why has creativity decreased?
There is a growing concern that creativity is on the decline, particularly among young children. This may be attributed, at least in part, to the lowering of expectations. It is possible that the decline in creativity could be reversed through the implementation of more academic activities, including the use of engaging read-alouds, the presentation of challenging projects, and an emphasis on feedback, reflection, and revision.
What is the creativity crisis?
The “creativity crisis” refers to the decline in human creativity due to a focus on accuracy over innovation, leading to a stratification of success and creativity. RCHS students, Carolina Gonzalez, Teryn Mathias, and Emily Keast, showcase their creative abilities through illustrations. The world is filled with movie remakes, mediocre sequels, and recycled ideas, with the Torrance Test revealing a decline in creativity in recent years.
However, creativity flourishes on the RCHS campus. A researcher at the University of William and Mary found that Torrance creativity scores have been steadily declining since the 1990s, indicating a “creativity crisis”.
How does creativity change over time?
The extant literature indicates that there is a decline in cognitive performance with advancing age, which in turn leads to a decline in creativity. Dietrich and Srinivasan observed that the innovative creative phase of artists and scientists reaches its zenith before the age of forty. This suggests that creativity may also decline with advancing age. The study was published in BMC Geriatrics, volume 23, article number 160.
Are humans losing creativity?
Scientific studies suggest that creativity is declining, with a decline in Torrance Test scores since the 1950s. A researcher at the University of William and Mary found that creativity scores began to drop in 1990, leading to a “creativity crisis”. This decline in scores on standard tests of creativity has been ongoing for decades, raising questions about whether we are truly lacking in creativity.
Why are people not creative anymore?
Creative work can be challenging when mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and burnout block the ability to produce creative work. To produce creative work, one needs to take their mind to a certain place, generate numerous ideas, and explore new pathways with an open mind. Confidence, clarity, and the ability to refine and refine on an almost subconscious level are essential for creative work.
However, when the mind is stuck in its own trap of emptiness and negativity, such as during the pandemic, it can be stifling and difficult to achieve. The mind becomes dark, empty, and distracted, making it difficult to think and create. This can lead to thoughts being swallowed up, rejected, and left crumpled and unusable.
To overcome this, one must have the sense of self and mental stamina to be wrong without letting it bulldoze their self worth. During the pandemic, the mind becomes dark, empty, and distracted, making it difficult to produce creative work.
Is creativity passed down?
Creativity is not heritable and has no unique genetic basis. Twin studies suggest that only about 22 percent of creative performance is related to our genetics, while the majority is due to our nurture. This means that nurture is more important than nature for creativity, and genes do not determine our ability throughout our lives. To continue nurturing and developing creativity, we can actively practice and engage in activities that promote creativity and development.
How has creativity evolved?
This paper discusses the cognitive basis, evolution, and connections between human creativity, childhood pretence, and the creative explosion of around 40, 000 years ago. It argues that adult creative thinking and problem-solving share the same cognitive resources as childhood pretend play, which allows for the generation and reasoning of suppositions or imagined possibilities. The paper also suggests that childhood pretence serves to practice and enhance adult forms of creativity.
The paper aims to provide a smooth and evolutionaryly plausible explanation for the gap between the first appearance of our species in Southern Africa 100, 000 years ago and the creative explosion of cultural, technological, and artistic change within dispersed human populations 60, 000 years later. This proposal serves as a guide for future interdisciplinary research.
What happens to our creativity as we get older?
Age significantly impacts our creativity, output, and ambition, despite the various social, psychological, and biological factors shaping our lives. While science suggests that we become less creative as we age, the reality is not as simple as it seems. No two creatives are the same, and the world we create in is constantly changing. It’s important to break down stereotypes and expectations that come with age and creating to unleash more of our collective creativity.
Research shows that preschoolers are more creative in problem-solving, while adolescents and adults tend to reason more accurately. This suggests that experience takes over, and as we have more of it, it informs our creativity and tempers it with “shoulds” instead of “coulds”.
London-based artist Rene Matić, who began making work at the age of 20, became the youngest artist ever in the Tate collection at 25, partly credited the naivety of youth for their success. They believed that a lack of fear and an open-mindedness to ideas has been helpful in their success. By nurturing creative practices with age in mind, we can unlock more of our collective creativity and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive world.
What is happening to creativity?
Creativity is declining, according to Professor Kyung Hee Kim of the College of William and Mary. After analyzing over 300, 000 adults and children over twenty years, Kim concluded that creativity is declining as a general characteristic of students, with the greatest decline being in “creative elaboration”. Many business leaders, who often share their advice that education should emulate their leadership principles, turn out to be unhelpful on the subject of creative leadership.
A global study of innovation found that fewer than half of companies surveyed said their corporate culture robustly supports their innovation strategy, despite culture being the strongest single variable tied to innovation performance.
Teachers and educators have plenty of problems to fix in their own backyard. Too many teachers continue to embrace the long-discredited practice of brainstorming, which is inferior to the work by individuals to develop ideas within clear constraints. The first critique of brainstorming was published in 1960, yet more than half a century later, creativity rubrics published by teachers with the best of intentions praise students for engaging in this unproductive practice.
The misinformation surrounding creativity is alarming, with many believing that creativity can be fostered, and even inhibited. However, there is much evidence to suggest that creativity can be fostered and inhibited.
How has creativity changed the world?
The fostering of creativity is conducive to the advancement of open problem-solving and innovation, which in turn contribute to the development of a more open-minded society. A society that is deficient in creativity may result in a narrow-mindedness and the formation of prejudices. It facilitates the expansion of perspectives and the overcoming of prejudices. Two publications were developed during the course of the week: “Creativity.” The book, entitled “Resilience and Global Citizenship: Explorations, Reflections, and Recommendations,”
📹 How ‘Doing Nothing’ Transformed My Creative Process
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Love your pages. I’ve had a slumpless journalling year so far. I’m using the Flow diary for 2024, which provides a planner page on the left and a journalling page on the right for each week. I love that combination, both pages I decorate heavily and more and more I try to integrate them to become a whole and give a perfect overview of my week.
I am a doddery old git, in my 70s. I was a university academic here in UK. It was early in my life that I discovered my subconscious mind. My conscious mind is the bit I talk to directly, which I pester with questions, and which bombards the subconscious mind with its interpretations of those questions. The subconscious is the clever, creative bit, that hates being interrupted. It was when I learned to provoke the subconscious into a direction I wanted, then wait for the response, that I discovered I could achieve so much more. Many people think I am mad when I talk of this, but when I mention something being on the tip of one’s tongue, and that being the subconscious breaking through, they get a hint of what I mean. Whenever I have a problem I want to solve I’ll do something that stops the conscious mind interrupting the subconscious – such as going for a long walk around university campus, or having a drink in the Senior Common Room bar. The subconscious got on with its work and produced amazing results. The thing to learn is when and how to communicate between the two aspects of the mind, and not to feel guilty about giving the subconscious the time it needs. Burnout is not giving the subconscious its personal time.
Stress and burnouts are real. I had a burnout and was away from work for three months, plus three more months slowly getting back into full-time again, back in 2019. And I know people who have been away from everything due to burnout for two years. So, yes, doing nothing and understanding how to listen to your body and mind are crucial for our health. My mileage definitely varies from the creative work regime in Nahre’s article, since I have a “regular” 9-5 office job. And people with family, kids and all sorts of other activities (sports, clubs etc.) have many more constraints to juggle. But it’s the same for everyone – find a balance between being busy and recharging. <3
This! a work colleague recently said to me half-joking, “how do you get so much done, I only ever see walking to get another cup of tea”. My main gig is a writer, and I think it’s a too popular habit to prove your dedication by spending lots of time tapping a keyboard, only for most of what you do to be pointless edits, or words that you will never end up using. There was a lot of resistance in me at first, but giving things time to cook and digest, then sitting down and actually working for short, intense blocks really did up the quality and the personal satisfaction of what I did, more than I would of ever expected. What’s frustrating is that people then look at the improved quality and say, “Well imagine if you did 8 hours like that!”… sigh
Wow this is very relatable. I use to feel guilty for not being creative/productive all the time. But after perusal this I realized I should embrace the still hours of my day. I am going through some huge creative blocks lately so I’ve taken a step back and focusing on other things like exercise. Although I’m a night owl I also need to try front loading my day because lately I find myself vegging out in the evenings before I sleep and i dont feel great about that. Anyhow thanks for sharing your thoughts about this matter, it’s really eye opening!
I was preparing for a recital last month and discovered the same exact thing ~ 2 weeks before the concert. I felt very secure with the work I’d done up until that point, and randomly I tried this idea of just letting my mind digest the music, creating lots of time for these empty hours of “nothing”. Sure enough, every day when I would practice, the music was unbelievably elevated, & the concert was amazing.
Yes in other words finding a balance At the moment I have the opposite of doing nothing, and that is working all the time for so long that I have not played my piano since May. In a nutshell, I basically was not making enough money from music to pay the bills building work does. Just think of it, If a walk in the park gives a boost of inspiration just imagine what six months grafting would do devastating or liberating,, Great to see you going over your phone drafts and continuing to put out these articles and inspiring us. You mentioned getting back to work in this article,believe me creating and playing music is a blessing and when we feel it is work we have lost the balance what you may not see at the moment is how age and terrain has a role in these daily routines,as we are constantly evolving yesterdays set routine needs constant natural changes for instance you have developed techniques through yes hard work but now is the time you’re routines should be utilising these techniques playing with them and enjoying they will continue to develop all by themselves without the old outdated work practice routine you had years ago it’s time to enjoy creating,, pushing yourself no no no. Reading lots of comments like this no no no Thank you.
I am retired for seven years now and I now have the luxury of spending all of the time I want composing and playing my piano. Everything you said resonated with me. Only difference is my “early” morning is more like -8:30. I spent 32 1/2 years getting up at the crack of dawn for work, so I no longer have the early rise – I enjoy my sleep. Going for my daily walk is my quiet time. What you said about doing nothing and how that can catapult your creativity is so true. Thank you for this.
I find that having lots of ‘projects’ on the go and working each one a little each day helps my subconscious ruminate on each one for longer than serially working on one project, then the next, … This is a little different to what you are saying, Nahre, but is complementary I think. Anyway, excellent article as usual.
Number 6 is actually meditation ! It sounds logical ’cause if you stop doing things, then you’ll actually become more aware of your surroundings, just like you can’t hear someone if you’re talking all the time, you can’t “hear” the world if you’re busy all the time, while maybe this world actually has some nice stuffs to tell you
I wonder why this is news? Creativity happens when you’re bored. Creativity happens when you’re silent, when world around you is silent. Internet and mobile phones, 24/7 constant feed of information and entertainment and constant messages and notifications etc. destroys the silence… you perusal TV, doom-scrolling or YouTube binging destroys the silence. Glass is already so full. World’s so loud. So why people expect them to suddenly become even more so?
I’m against the “early bird” thing – this might be you again giving in to social pressure as it’s socially approved to get up early while night owls seem lazy (but are more creative, according to a large number of studies). I do agree though that you must look after yourself and take some time off. I had that occur to me last week again when I saw a article by Andrew Masters regarding “maximum productivity” by having a very tight schedule and I thought to myself “dude, don’t forget to SLEEP. You can’t be productive if you’re tired all the time as you’re trying to squeeze 20 hours of work and family life into a 16 hour day!” Love to see that apparently, you’re doing better now. Even though I wish you would visit Hamburg again for a year or two 😂
Love this! time management is crucial for creativity, and I agree with pretty much everything you said about this. One of the challenges I experience with this is being a parent of 2 small children, so there’s even less time to figure out how to composer and not really any time to actually do nothing unless they’re not around😂although, I will say that one thing that has helped me lately is finding brief moments to paint while my son is coloring.
I very much agree with you. I’m a digital illustrator and many of the tips you give in this article I already apply to avoid burnout. I’ll try some of the things you mention too! Something that helps me clear my head but enriches my creativity is to do something artistic that has nothing to do with my job, like sewing or sculpting, it helps me to be creative without having to resort to drawing, and it helps me a lot.
❤YES!!! I agree. It may take on many forms of schedule due to variety of psychology, physique, and vocation. Unplanned hours separate from regular work allow for the proportionally massive unused brain power to actuate, enhancing both creative and mundane task efficiency when returning to task. In my view, as dream and sleep repair phys/psych degradation, so waking ‘inactivity’ repairs degradation of conscious perceptions: as you said “sharpen,” but also tied to your “efficient” work/rehearsal; and same for social integrations: creating deliberate connection, and chance networking opportunity. Curious, though, at 4:32 your reflection: ~ extra as inessential addition to what? Wouldn’t your career (maybe even identity) be void without that? I’ve heard that opinion in an economics lecture, and I respect you hold the opinion, and simply wonder at it. I don’t know that humanity devoid of music can exist, therefore, I don’t see it as a luxury.
Front loading work at the start of the day to keep the rest of the day free for leisure, quiet and socializing reminds me of writer Ursula Le Guin’s routine. “5:30 a.m. – wake up and lie there and think. 6:15 a.m. – get up and eat breakfast (lots). 7.15 a.m. – get to work writing, writing, writing. Noon – lunch. 1:00-3:00 p.m. – reading, (listening to) music. 3:00-5:00 p.m. correspondence, maybe house cleaning. 5:00-8:00 p.m. make dinner and eat it. After 8:00 p.m. – I tend to be very stupid and we won’t talk about this.” She “only” wrote 3-4 hours, but she was at point of her career when she could afford to do so.
You have done well to find this out before you were any older! But remember, like anything else it needs practice. In fact, it needs working at. Regularly! No, just messing with you. If you were an employee you might call it presenteeism. If you are self-employed, as I was for thirty years, you risk falling into a similar error. I am perhaps twice your age and STILL find it difficult to build enough stillness into my life. Or for that matter, piano practice.
Surprised to find so enthusiastic responses from so many? This has come to resonate with wisdom from many cultures. In Chinese, it is called Wu Wei, from sages like Lao Tze and Chuang Tze from almost three thousand years ago. The power of effortless action. Think of sailing vs rolling— following what is natural.
i think for me the key is just simply having the space and time to process life and that’s what allows for in the moment living and adaptability. routines and structures aren’t life, imo, yet that’s what a lot of urban centers are about, which has its pros and cons. i can’t think of anything in nature that has a “set routine” of when and how things should unfold.
I have a creative job but I’m not freelance, I’m employed by a corporation. I think many people who aren’t creative just don’t understand how hard it is to work on creative projects for 8 hours a day. I’ve begun to worry less about the hours I work in total. I may work longer days to finish something when I get on a roll. I may just stop when I’ve finished something. What I have started to do is get up in the mornings very slowly. I get a cup of coffee and write in my journal in bed with my cats and husband and I don’t rush for the shower or to get into my home office. I feel a lot more calm waking up this way and by the time I get to the desk to work, I’m ready. I sometimes will take a longer lunch break to refresh and then I do my exercise to refresh after work. It works pretty well for me given I am stuck with arbitrary hours to work.
Hey, i noticed that on your store, you have a set of practice exercises for intermediate to advanced pianists, and i was hoping you would either make or recommend something similar for a beginner. I’ve been in music production for a while and your music theory articles have approached the subject in a way that’s helped me understand concepts I’ve had a hard time with and has ultimately inspired me to take up the keyboard. Any pointers would be appreciated, thank you!
I think this is very interesting on a sciencey-brain side of things. I’ve been perusal some Healthy Gamer GG articles and this reminds a lot about dopamine detoxing, where you basically take away all distractions from your phone, laptop, computer, or other type of tech where you could be getting a “dopamine rush” which leads people to “rot in bed.” Having those hours where you are just sitting there in nothingness reminds me of taking a brake in all of the craziness that is happening in the world, on social media, or in people’s daily lives with creating. Just think that’s pretty interesting to see (note: I’m not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or brain wizard of any means, just seeing the parallel with other vids I’ve seen)
I have organised at Bookstore in Milan with a blackboard a “creative ambit” 4 the case experiment : the 1st recommendation was “you may do nothing”. As to the creative process (I personally just wrote an ebook by now) it helps, I guess. Just note that to A. N. Whitehead, a philosopher, “creativity” is a general category (Process and Reality Free Press NY 78).
I dabble in art now. My brother is a painter but I just make images of photos within photos. What’s weird is that I’ve been following the Korean singer IU for a while and perusal some of her older interviews and show appearances. When she was at Hyori’s BnB on Jeju you would see her just space out, enjoying the quiet. Yet this is one of Korea’s biggest stars. So I made a piece of art with her in it called “완벽한 무의 꿈” (Dream of Perfect Nothingness). There is always a moment of perfect emptiness per day. And strangely it matches what you’re saying here.
The cellphone-dependent Pavlovian generation is a challenge that has not hit me, but as a night-owl, I know not everyone has the same bio-rhythms. 1-6am, 3-5pm would be my sleep pattern if permitted. For inspiration, I find my thoughts are most lucid and creative on a long drive, while reading self-growth books, or as my head hits the pillow (moments after and just prior to the hypnic jerk) and as the first sip of coffee reaches my lips in the morning. You’re ahead of your years in studying this!
Ive been working on this for me for a while. I did it the other way around first, though, I started putting rest time into my day and picked up writing a few weeks later. Sadly I am involved in too many projects and life changes currently to make this work for me again… Like, I am dependent on the schedule of 2 or more teams (dayjob and side project), my partner and my own writing goals. And currently I dont have the confidence to restructure and slow down. 5 to 6 hours of work do enpugh to knock me out for the rest of the day 😢 Thanks for this article. Perhaps it will kick me into a healthier balance again.
You’re onto something immensely important I feel like. This idea is a very big part of the book “Four Thousand Weeks” by Oliver Burkeman. Take breaks, don’t overwork and be social. I would recommend this book to anyone, but particularly to those struggling with the feeling that they should get done more. That they should be better.
As someone who’s struggled with ADHD and insomnia for what feels like forever, one thing I’ve come to realize is everyone has their own “productive hours”. Those times when they feel most in tune with getting work done, be it creative, technical, whatever. And forcing those hours into something else, while it can work, is often difficult and does not work. Sometimes you just gotta work with what you got.
I really wish everyone had the opportunity and privilege to do this! I’ve been lucky enough to have time for this earlier in my life (not so much right now though), and it’s amazing how many interesting thoughts and ideas just start forming in your mind as you rest and take in life slowly. These days I’m sucked up in corporate nonsense but I’m hoping I can shift out of that and focus on just… living… in the near future.
We live in a society that values efficiency (a holdover from WWII) and calls it “productivity”. So, you asked a really good question right, which many other people are beginning to ask, at the beginning. Also, a saying that came out of WWII and is still quoted today is, “You can’t beat something with nothing,” to which I say, “Of course you can.” You just gave me another proof.
When I was a teenager, I used to just lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. My mom sometimes asked me what I was doing and I answered “looking around”, which she found hilarious. But I was very creative then. I need to get into that habit again. We are so distracted all the time by social media and we scroll and watch articles (which I’m doing now dangit!). And I’m just feeling numb and empty of any inspiration. Thank you for the article and reminding me. Time to just look around regularly again!
You might enjoy the book, Daily Rituals, by Mason Curry. Also, I’ve found it most beneficial to avoid news, eschew social media, and give my brain a chance to breathe. All input is mental inhalation, but at some point you have to exhale, and you do that by not putting anything in. Love your articles and own your harmony book.
If there’s a contrast I often notice between writing under a disciplinary structure or through impulses in the quietness, it’s a feeling of certitude in what comes out. Which has a lot to do with what you mention: spontaneity in creativity, and quality. Like I believe it’s necessary to have a degree of discipline; but stillness, silence, these empty spaces allow for a kind of waiting or fermentation of the best.
The most important thing to understand about doing nothing is that it is utterly impossible for human beings to do nothing. Ever try to stop your brain from thinking? Well, it’s not as easy as one might think. =) When I “do nothing,” it becomes my most productive, imaginative time. And, also, I love to spend most of my quiet time with God. Yup! Shutting down and letting the Big Guy tell me what he thinks Is really what life is all about. Have a nice day. =).
Wonderful and very informative, thank you for sharing! I am grappling with similar issues and it’s interesting that I’ve reached some of the same conclusions like waking up very early which is also quite unnatural for me… I also think that the free time doesn’t have to be “nothing” but could also be any activity you love as long as there is no deliverable expected from this time
This probably works well if you truly, TRULY, work for yourself. I’m a composer for media, so I’m obliged to adhere to client deadlines, which often means a packed work week with a few days to recover afterward. I literally plan for two-day stretches (skipping a night of sleep) on my calendar, though that practice has become more taxing on me in my mid 30s 😅
I actually don’t know how to be creative with long walks. Not walks with podcast or anything like that, just walking in the world. That’s when my brain really gets going and all the ideas flow. Obviously because I trained skills if I sit down and do it stuff can come out, but all the real ideas and advancements at this stage come from the long quiet walks.
It can be hard to do nothing. We all have permission to do nothing. This stupid society and work are all so screwed up about staying busy. My boss sees me doing nothing. Oh no. I don’t practice at all. I got to change my ways. To get to playing, I have to do nothing. Hands are messed up. I do focus on Nahre to get my warm ups and get going.
As a musician/writer with chronic health problems, what I have discovered is that the winter time is when I am most productive in my creativity. This may have a LOT to do with the fact that I live in central California, which has notoriously hot summers 😂 I just wanted to share this information as a means to inspire musicians, and all artists of any medium. There’s always hope 👍
This is so awesome! I’ve been trying to incorporate space into my life but your point about being more focused when working was super helpful and I’m gonna try it out! I always like to think of Howard Shore when he would walk around his garden when writing the music for The Lord of the Rings. That space seems to just fill our souls up again..
This article have lot of space for joking about you are creator when you are lazy,and laugh a lot with some of this comments!But this is a very deep article,against the days we live.I will start the struggle for waking up very early and sleep early.Till today i wake up early but stay after midnight,so i just lose sleep time that is not good at all!Thank you for the reminder in this speedy days we live!
I’ve come to kind of a similar realization recently. I would work as much as I could, I think because I felt some kind of pride in that, but a lot of it was just empty busywork that didn’t move me forwards. I’ve started actively taking breaks and making sure I actually work efficiently when I do work, and I’m starting to feel better about life in general. I’m less irritable is the big one I’m noticing. This is still a process, and this past week I’d stay at work late and find things to do but I’ve realized there’s no point to that. This week I’m going to be more disciplined about also stopping work and going home at a reasonable time. It’s important to figure out when you’re the most productive (for a lot of people it’s in the morning even if we don’t want to admit it) and take advantage of that, making sure you work efficiently and take regular breaks to maintain efficiency, so that you get your work done and can enjoy the free time without guilt for the rest of the day. It’s important to remember you’re doing this for your own sake, to make your own life more enjoyable, so you shouldn’t try to cheat because you’re only cheating yourself. Also if you fall back into bad habits, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Just try again and maybe with this experience it will work a little bit better this time, and then even better next time, and so on. Those are my thoughts and what I’ve been doing lately, and so far I’m happy with how things are going.
Honestly, actual work (or school when I was in college) is the best thing for creativity. perusal movies and listening to other music and traveling also helps. So does dating. You need inspiration, you can compose when you’re not in front of your instrument. Sometimes you need to push through to make something make sense. Sometimes you need to step away. Hard to know when each is appropriate.
This is so refreshing, because, aside that a lot of us completely agree, there’s this idea between musicians that you can only become better the more you practice non stop. Whenever I did things with that mentality, I ended up feeling a loss of creativity, and almost no one from the music world talks about the importance of silence and the space to rest and do nothing. Thanks Nahre! ❤
I remember reading a book by an Italian author many many years ago about something like this: Domenico de Masi? But I also remember a lot of criticism back then too because you were not being efficient and productive but it made sense for me back then. I still cannot balance both side but I’m always trying
I’m also most creative in the first hours of the day. But being a family man I have gotten used to being interrupted and hooking up to my current project again when I get a chance. I find that the best thing to do to hook up again is doing something completely different, preferably with my hands. I have written more melodies at the kitchen zink than anywhere else. I also have a pretty long period of doing nothing in between projects, where I practice some other creative rutine like photography or creating fractals or playing Minecraft. My music benefits very much from cross pollination of creative outlets.
I love this. I’m a writer and I agree that stillness is so important for creativity. You have to refresh and process and let ideas come up. And just live your life. I’ve always been an early riser and I agree that frontloading work at the beginning of the day and then getting the downtime later is what works. Being organized and intentional with how I use my time is so important!
Hello Nahre. I’m also a professional composer. I’ve had a girl friend for the last three years. I love her, but love is in the way of the great goals I had set out for my life which is also something we want to call a career. Is the real life of a composer the life of a monk or a nun? You probably should tackle the subject in a article
As a content creator too, I usually do this most of the time. I am able to also explore my own thoughts and how to come up with bigger and better creative ideas in the space that I work in. Usually taking time off and pushing the pause button enables me to think and be myself more on the otherside of things. I am also able to process information much more quicker and faster.
On the routine side of things… For lent this year I gave up free time so every hour of every day was scheduled. It wasn’t micromanaged, so there were days when 10am to 11pm was just “meet up with friends” for instance, and I was allowed to change the schedule at will but the important thing was that I couldn’t be doing things that weren’t on the schedule (outside of necessities like going to the toilet). I was so productive. My boss would ask me for a thing and I had done it a week earlier, I started learning guitar and bass, I was destroying Duolingo, I read more books than I have in years and I was getting a full night’s sleep every night. And then I stopped doing that and I still don’t know why. Life was so much better when I knew what I needed to do but the laziness is just there all the time
1. Final Tip: DON’T PANIC! If you are not feeling anything creative and are not motivated to do anything and have no good ideas, don’t worry, be happy. You are in Gathering Mode. What this means is that you subconsciously gather those things that will all come together into your best work (to date). Lesser works are those that contain only various pieces of what you’ve gathered and worked on. Let’s say you have 20 of those lesser works. THEN… everything comes together in one piece (and no, you will not be conscious of it, you are just grabbing things, and, in this case, they are all ‘ripe’, having been worked out already. 2. Sleep is hard work! (this occurred to me when I wanted to be awake all the time). 3. You are forgetting socializing, in particular, getting to know people in the industry (going to ‘functions’, making connections) which opens doors and creates opportunities (if you’re into that sort of thing, rather than just creating recordings for the pure joy of it, like me) (though I have a day job, so I am absolutely free, creatively speaking). 4. Every schedule and plan breaks down, because we like variety. First you’re super-organized and time-tasked, and then you let it all go to the wind, just for creative variety. 5. I think the essence is when, no matter what you are experiencing in life, you always have an eye toward using it in your next creation. This is not a trick or a wannabe thing, you either have that drive or you don’t, due to your life’s complicated history, which pushed you there.
Some things I know or believe. Your brain consumes the same amount of oxygen when you’re not doing anything. If you keep coming back to the same project every once in a while, a new idea will occur to implement. About 10% of ideas will be okay, and maybe 1% will seem really good, so you need about a 100 to get 1. Ear fatigue is a real thing. People have managed to make very boring things interesting and maybe that’s the art of it. Moods are transitory. A bad day often ends no matter what you do.
So much this. While I no longer do creative “art”, my job still requires a creative mentality. I’ve found all of this works great for me. I’ve also learned from being in a cross culture relationship that there are cultural pressures pushing people to always be productive. I would add that maintaining “personal space” vs “professional space” is extremely important for people who work from home. These last two articles have resonated so much with me. It is a very interesting subject.
It’s amazing how much crossover there is to things I’ve learned from chronic illness communities. Especially the part about front-loading the day, avoiding burnout (because if you don’t schedule it, your body will force the matter), working-out what you can reliably do every day, and then actively rest (not just “not work”) either alone or with pals.
I’m so glad you added that so far so good, but unsure whether it would last, There are too many “solutions” out there where I have to ask, 6 months down the track, are you still doing that? The point I guess is to find balance in one’s life, however one might do so, and that it might be by different means for different people – and it might change over time. By motivating each aspect you have provided some ideas for how we might seek that balance ourselves.
I just read “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin, and you basically seconded some of his points! By doing “nothing”, you’re letting your brain rest, you’re creating intentional distractions, so your brain will have time to accumulate and adapt to the information received during practice. Our brain is way slower than our movements, so it takes time to process the amount of motions we just did. Also by doing “nothing” you’re creating space for ideas to come – this was your point at 5:00. Good article!
At 31 years old I’ve been wondering about this a lot. I always had this nagging feeling that I was a lot more creative as a child and teenager than as an adult, and I started looking back at why I felt that way. One of the things all those years had in common, even though my life changed very fast, is exactly the amount of nothing-to-do time. As a child I’d get out of school and go to my grandparents’ for like 4 hours where there was little for a kid to distract himself with, so I’d just play with a bouncy ball until my parents arrived to pick me up. As a teenager and young adult I spent hours on bus rides every week going from school/university to my home and also long bike rides. Once I started working those do nothing times ended, and as my life became full with responsibilities I felt my creativity getting drained more quickly and my creative work turning into an insufferable formulaic chore rather than something where I’d put the best of myself in and I just kept trying harder and harder, spending more and more time getting things back to what they were when I was young, to no avail. When I started making this retrospect it also hit me that creativity needs boredom, stillness, nothing to do.