Structure Gives Way to Creativity

I’m fascinated by how structure can give way to creativity. It’s not something you would expect or consider. The trope of the creative is someone with a messy work environment and eccentric life with lightning strikes of creativity here and there. Ideas seem to pop up through that mess and because of it.

I suspect the opposite. I’ve experienced that more structure helps me be more creative. And at a minimum, it makes me more resilient to dips in motivation and productivity. When I have time set aside to do specific tasks, and I fulfill those obligations inside that time frame, I generally feel better about myself.

Thanks to the structure that I’ve built into my day I can be more creative. I’ve tasked myself with small habits that I know I can do every day no matter what. By focusing on only the task at hand, I am able to free my mind from the shackles of worry, concern, self-doubt and most negative emotions that typically hinder me.

Every 5-6 weeks I wind up frozen in bed unable and unwilling to do anything at all. Maybe it’s anxiety, depression, mania or whatever, in my opinion, the label isn’t important. What is important is that for some unknown reason I have absolutely no ability to do anything… Nothing At All. The only thing that feels good is laying in bed and watching Youtube. And sometime even YouTube is too much. Those times are the worst of them all.

There’s one other thing that feels good. If I am being honest, and that’s the only thing worth being in this situation, it feels good enough to kick me out of this lull. It is: doing what I say I’m going to do.

When the only two things that feel good to me are doing nothing and doing what I said I would do guess which one I’m going to pick.

Yeah, it’s not the best system. But it’s the hand I was dealt.

Unfortunately, positive thoughts, and support from others and motivational YouTube videos never do the trick long term.

The structure I’ve built in my daily life is the only thing that helps. Having these small daily tasks helps me continue to be creative, productive and vaguely positive despite everything in my mind telling me I suck.

For me, there are two steps to getting out of these periods of time. Unfortunately, neither of them are as easy as they sound.

1. Say you’re going to do a small task
2. Do the small task you said you would do

Step 1: Doing the Small Task

Saying you’re going to do a small task is more than just saying it. You have to tell yourself that this single task is all that matters. You have to believe with all your mind, heart, body, and soul that the only thing you expect of yourself right now is for this small thing to get done. If I have any expectations to do something after that small task, then I’ve already lost!

Maybe literally saying it out loud or writing it down is necessary.

If there is any expectation that you need to do something beyond that small task you’ve stated, then you’ve already lost. I can lay in bed for hours listing all the things I need to do each one seemingly more impossible than the next. But when I limit it to one small thing, it becomes a battle between me and that single task. Sure it’s still a fierce battle, but it’s me against a single enemy, not an army of to-dos.

Step 2: Doing the Small Task

Then there’s the second step, actual doing the small task. It sounds easy here, but in the moment I can promise you it’s tough!

The thing that works for me, if I can remember to do it, is to focus on the moment. Merely think about whatever you’re doing here and now. Sometimes I verbally denounce everything else that’s going on as unimportant. Because honestly, it’s not.

Whatever small task you’ve set out to do right here and now is the only thing that matters. That bill you need to pay is unimportant because right now you’re brushing your teeth. The wedding that’s coming up in two months that you’re secretly dreading doesn’t matter at all because you are changing a flat tire in the rain right now.

The time to focus on those tasks will come (if they’re important enough) and when that time comes, you will fully concentrate on them then. But right now they are not the task at hand. They are distracting and crushing you, and the only way to climb out of that rubble is to focus on doing the small duty you said you would do.

When the second step is completed, go back to step one for another equally small task. Rinse and repeat for a week (or longer) and eventually the crushing feeling of time’s relentless march and the burden of consciousness will pass, and you’ll be back to normal.

I’m lucky and always get back to normal, most people are. However, in that state of mind, I feel like I won’t ever get back to normal and a whole lot of negative stuff that doesn’t usually make sense makes sense. But if I focus on those thoughts, I lose! If I focus on the small task I set out to do, then I will win in the long run.

I don’t know if this two-step system is the only thing that works, but it’s what worked for me lately. If it wasn’t obvious, I’m coming out of one of those negative dips, and this is a sort of letter to my future self. Hopefully, I can remember to focus on these small tasks more often and shorten the amount of time I spend frozen in bed.