Hitting the Creative Max
September 15, 2014 6:10 PM   Subscribe

7 Rules for Maximizing your Creative Output

A productive workspace will also help.
posted by storybored (16 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Eh, this is kind of generic advice from a blog that hasn't really gone over well the previous times it's been mentioned either. -- cortex



 
no mention of psychedelics ... except maybe #7. Master Your Tools
posted by philip-random at 6:19 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


1. Define a clear purpose.

no, some of the most interesting things i do are when i have no idea what it is i'm going to do

2. Identify a compelling motive.

i feel like doing it

3. Architect a worthy challenge.

sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to do right

4. Provide a conducive environment.

that's good, but sometimes you can't and must learn to create in suboptimal places

5. Allocate a committed block of time.

when i do it is when i do it

6. Prevent interruptions and distractions.

i can't - so i've simply learned to pick up where i was before

7. Master your tools.

i agree with this, but with some of my tools, i've deliberately delayed learning them because interesting things happen when i don't really know what i'm doing

everyone's different in how they work creatively
posted by pyramid termite at 6:27 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


A retread, but apropos as I try to summon the energy to stumble into the family room, slap on the headphones and try to re-learn a bunch of Yes songs at 8 at night: Find The Thing You're Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And Weekends For The Rest Of Your Life.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:28 PM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


All you need to know about being creative long term:
Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea.’ -Chuck Close
Replace inspiration with drugs, the perfect workspace, the perfect productivity software, or whatever you think is required to be 'creative' in there and it applies. There is this whole industry selling this mythology of unleashing your inner creative, if you could only have this thing or use this product or define this system, but it's all fucking bullshit. You just do the work.
posted by bradbane at 6:33 PM on September 15, 2014 [12 favorites]


There's a book of essays by and interviews with Gerhard Richter, titled The Daily Practice of Painting. The book can be judged by its cover: Most of the essays disabuse the reader of the idea of artist as visionary whose only valid works are when the muse visited.

I know that many working artists are often as trapped as amateurs by the desire to be as great again as they were when they did that one thing everybody liked. But I also like to imagine that some of them want the necessity of steady, hard work to remain a secret, to thin out the competition a little by ensuring the dabblers remain as dabblers.
posted by ardgedee at 6:50 PM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


Architect a worthy challenge.

Is "design" somehow not a word now?
posted by LionIndex at 6:51 PM on September 15, 2014 [6 favorites]


1) Wax the cat.

2) The cat could probably use another coat of wax.

3) Are you sure you waxed the cat last month?

4) It's been long enough. Wax the cat again.
posted by Scattercat at 6:52 PM on September 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


Er, so we're supposed to worship this golden pyramid with a book, heart and lightning bolt in it? Because there's something about the web design that carries with it a strong hint of televangelist, to me.

Going to the home page:

The purpose of this website is to help you grow as a conscious human being.

I see, I guess. Who is this Steve Pavlina?

Steve Pavlina is perhaps the most intensely growth-oriented individual you will ever meet.

Ah, I guess that clears this up. He also has an email newsletter, which contains "original and insightful bonus material to help you grow." I dunno, is this best of the web? Is this posted ironically?
posted by JHarris at 6:53 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


Steve Pavlina is perhaps the most intensely growth-oriented individual you will ever meet.

he's an oncologist?
posted by pyramid termite at 6:57 PM on September 15, 2014 [6 favorites]


Architect a worthy challenge.

Is "design" somehow not a word now?


He's doing creativity!
posted by clockzero at 6:59 PM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


Steve Pavlina is perhaps the most intensely growth-oriented individual you will ever meet.

He's a dick?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 PM on September 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


protip: increase your productivity by up to 25% by not wasting time reading books or blogs about increasing your productivity!

buy my book only $29.99
posted by young_son at 7:10 PM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


""the flow state"?

I can't even
posted by Aranquis at 7:14 PM on September 15, 2014


There is no do. There is only try.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:16 PM on September 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


The website is pretty woo, but the advice looks sensible. I suggest leaving off the ad hominen attacks and assessing the advice on its own merits.

It seems to me that the tricky one is identifying a compelling motive- it has to go up against the compelling motive of checking the internet for interesting stuff.
posted by leibniz at 7:23 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


I want to hear about the time he was arrested for grand theft and thrown out of school.
Oh--it's here.
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:29 PM on September 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


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