Two Time-Tricks to Help Avoid Creativity’s Rabbit Holes

By Yasmine Gateau

Creative blocks are an obvious foe to work; however, getting lost in creativity can be just as inefficient. Although we strive to reach those moments where we can get completely lost in our work, we also lose all sense of time. We usually don’t view this a problematic as we deem the time as productive. However, when we use our creativity as our profession and have multiple clients, losing track of time can be a huge pitfall. During the FITC Conference, director and illustrator Ash Thorp explains how he avoids getting trapped within his own creativity:

I set a timer, an alarm on my phone. I just sit there and tell Siri, ‘set an alarm for 8:30, set an alarm for 9:00, set an alarm for 11:30.’ Basically, every moment that I have to break a chapter. So at 11:00 if I have a call, I set an alarm on my phone. We’re creative people, so when I get in the mood of creating, time flies. When you’re creating, time doesn’t exist, so I have to bring myself back to reality. I end up really hating my phone because it’s always pulling me out of these really fun experiences. But it’s part of discipline, if you want to be professional, it’s part of the practice, at least for me. So I set alarms and it gets me back on my tasks that I need to do and I just smash through it. It’s crazy, but by organizing and having this process, I am easily able to double how efficient I am in the past six months.

It’s so easy to become totally consumed by a project. The challenge is to turn that creative energy into a tool that works to your advantage. Thorp challenges us to carefully examine our creative process and find pitfalls so we can avoid them in future work. This includes writing down daily habits into a physical document as a way to track performance. In an article for Fast Company, Bryan Collins explains that this is already a common practice for athletes and business professionals, so why not creatives? In Thorp’s case, he organizes his time into specific chapters depending on his daily schedule. Collins suggests breaking it down into 25 minute work periods so you have an equal time value to compare your accomplishments. For example, Collins records when he started, what he wrote, and his word count to find ways he can improve his writing:

This self-quantification will help you identify blocks in your workflow and figure out the times and occasions when you’re most productive as a writer. It will also help you see the types of writing projects you’re good at and those that take longer. I thought I was at my best writing at night, but this tracking helped me figure out I write best first thing in the morning before I check email or the news.

Both methods include a timer to pull you out of your creative dimension and back to reality. You may need to take time to focus on another client’s work, or simply be aware how long a particular task takes to complete. Managing your creative time will allow you to accomplish more. Remember to use your creativity and not get lost to it.  

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