Creativity Can’t Be Productivized

Get up at 6 AM. Show up every day. Maintain consistency. Keep pushing through the resistance. Write 1000 words. Document; don’t create.

All fair and useful pieces of advice — only that none of these guarantees you’ll produce your most creative work that makes a massive impact.

What do I mean?

Creativity isn’t measurable

Lab experiments might have proven that constraints and deadlines are good for getting you to act and finish creative work. It’s also a great strategy for those who are starting out in a specific creative activity and want to learn the ropes — internalize the rubrics of the endeavor so that we don’t scratch for them later on.

But all of this social media hoopla around posting updates consistently and keeping your audience’s attention serves these social media companies’ algorithms.

At best, you can end up with 10k (or even 100k) social media followers on your favorite platform for your jokes, comics, or even songs. But by all means, all of these numbers only mean more income — that too if you’ve business sense and know-how to monetize your influence.

From a creativity standpoint, the quantity of output, cadence, and delivery schedule doesn’t mean a thing.

So how can you get your creative juices flowing...?

That’s the (unknown value) question every creative is asking for. All they end up with are copycat articles in Google — which is the default product everybody resorts to in their search.

Mind you. The answer won’t come from reading creativity quotes or even pursuing creative exercises. All of that time management and energy management mumbo jumbo that capitalist companies speak of isn’t what will drive home creativity either.

The highest order of creativity — once you know and are well-versed with your craft — happens in a snap moment. It’s almost magical. No, it can’t be restricted and called upon by your schedule. It could happen when you’re unengaged consciously in your craft — such as taking a bath or even bullet journaling.

So just let go. Don’t stress yourself out too much, or maybe do it. There’s no rule of thumb. What works for you could be different than mine.

But one thing’s a given: all of the strategies to get your juices flowing, body moving, and streaks going are about feeling more productive.

What happens in those sessions may or may not be your most creative work — which is also acceptable. But the awareness to distinguish between the two is key to understanding what you’re after.