Creating Time to Create

photo by geishaboy500

When I wrote my series on “How to Focus Your Ideas,” a lot of people were excited to try out idea dumps and mind maps, eager to coax their ideas onto the page. But some people weren’t quite convinced that creativity could survive these attempts to create order.

Mind maps may not work for you, and you may find lists and outlines constricting. But whatever your method, there is undoubtedly a need to focus your ideas in order to move forward. How can you make progress with an idea if you’re not even sure what that idea is?

Focusing doesn’t always require organized, systematic preparation. When I write a blog post, sometimes I make a mind map to sketch out my ideas before writing. But sometimes I just start writing with a fuzzy plan, and my ideas organically come into focus as I write, rewrite, and rearrange the words on the page. Whether you focus your ideas before you act, or start acting to focus your ideas, focus is essential.

My logic is simple, and it goes like this:

Serious creativity calls for serious focus.

Serious focus requires creating your time.

Creating your time involves consciously choosing where you devote your energy.

Last week, we spoke all about choosing and creating our time. Although some of us may be capable of achieving this effortlessly, without techniques or time management skills, I think it gets pretty tough some days. Today I’d like to introduce you to someone whose philosophy on time management sums up precisely what works wonders for me.

Before the introduction, let me say a few words about “time management.” The phrase has always sparked a bit of resistance inside me, simply because it sounds so boring and anti-creative. But it’s not as bad as it sounds. If we manage time, we take control — we choose our time. Time is not managing us.

Allow Me To Introduce Mark…

Mark McGuinness is a poet and a business coach who works with professional artists and creatives. He has written a free e-book called Time Management for Creative People: Manage the Mundane – Create the Extraordinary. Now, doesn’t that sound like a marvelous promise? Because Mark chose to make this e-book available under the Creative Commons license, I can offer the download to you here for free. Or, you can just click the link above and download it from the original website.

I don’t recommend many resources on this blog, but I plan to start doing so more often. I absorb a lot of books, articles, and bits of wisdom that stimulate and motivate me, so I’d love to share those with you on a page aptly entitled “Creative Resources.” Today I am sharing Time Management for Creative People with you for one main reason: Mark outlines certain habits that transform my creative process.

Why Our Creative Projects are at the Bottom of the Pile

One of Mark’s main points is that we get caught up in work that is “urgent and important” — e.g., responding to e-mails from clients, or finishing a project before deadline — at the expense of “important but not urgent” things. Unfortunately, our creative projects often fall into the “important but not urgent” category, putting them at constant risk of being pushed aside.

The simple solution is to prioritize your own projects by working on them first thing every day. Maybe you can afford two hours in the early morning, or maybe you can only afford 30 minutes. Either way, you can at least go through the rest of the day knowing you have moved forward with your project.

“Though this is hard to do on any given day, it is the only way to ensure you are making progress towards your own goals and dreams, instead of merely reacting to what other people throw at you.”

If you are not at your most creative first thing in the morning, you may need to block off some other time that works for you. I find the morning to be my peak time for creativity, and I especially like doing my own writing before all else. Mark’s e-book encouraged me to reinforce the habit that I was loosely following:

Write first thing in the morning, before opening e-mail, before reading the news.

OK, I frequently eat breakfast before writing, because focus completely eludes me when I’m hungry. But writing before I check my e-mail is a tiny thing that makes an enormous change in my creative production. I get “in the mode” more easily, I have better momentum, and I feel so much more fulfilled for the rest of the day because I’ve made progress on the project that matters most to me.

Not everyone has the luxury of devoting all or part of their morning to their creative projects. But if you can somehow re-think your time and create that time, I truly encourage you to try it.

Other Valuable Ways to Put Your Creativity First

Time Management for Creative People covers several other relevant topics, all of which are simple and easy to apply to your own life. Since Mark says it so well himself, I will leave it to you to download the e-book and tell me (and him!) what you think.

Here is the table of contents, so you can decide if this book is for you:

1. Why you need to be organised to be creative
2. Prioritise work that is ‘important but not urgent’
3. Ring-fence your most creative time
4. Avoid the ‘Sisyphus effect’ of endless to-do lists
5. Get things done by putting them off till tomorrow
6. Get things off your mind
7. Review your commitments
8. Resources to help you get things done

Check out Mark McGuinness’ blog Wishful Thinking, and keep your eyes open for his upcoming book How to Motivate Creative People (Including Yourself).

Click the image to download Time Management for Creative People by Mark McGuinness

Now I’m curious: What ritual puts you “in the mode”? Maybe it’s a habit, a place, or a certain trigger that works for you — whatever it is, let us know in the comments!

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Tagged as: creativity, time, time management