How to be Consistently, Creatively Productive

by Mark Silver

Published on this site: August 21th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Flash back two years

As I sit down to write an article, I feel stumped. I've got an hour to "get it done," and meanwhile I'm just staring at the screen... 55 minutes later, with a few sentences written, I have to stop, and I'm off to the next thing- two back-to-back conference calls.

Flash forward again.

Your business depends on your creativity. Your creativity in your marketing, in your product and service creation, and just in how you show up for your customers and clients. Without creativity, everything grows stagnant, you are unable to produce to meet deadlines, yours and others, and you begin to feel lifeless. And so does your business. And so do your profits.

How do you nurture the absolutely critical, bottom-line necessary creativity since you can't just turn it on between appointments?

Well, let's take a look at creativity, what it is, and what it needs.

The first thing to get clear is that "creativity" is a bit of a misnomer. You aren't creating anything, in the meaning of "making something exist out of thin air, where nothing existed before." No human being can create at that level, although it can sure look that way sometimes.

So, when you get creative, what's really happening?

In the best-selling management book Whale Done, by Ken Blanchard, the book describes how a failing manager attending a business conference in Florida, takes time off to go see a killer whale show. Amazed by the performance, he sticks around to find out how the trainers get the killer whales to perform so consistently.

A best-selling book was born out of this apparent mis-match: training killer whales who could easily kill and eat their trainers (means you want to keep them happy and well-fed), and creating positive and effective relationships with employees and others in your life.

Amazing. Simple. Creative.

Although Whale Done is written as a fable, the event of meeting the killer whale trainers really happened. And it happened during time off from working.

Creativity is a synthesis of different elements not normally seen together. In order to make those unusual connections, you need unscheduled time. You need room to think and play and daydream, where there is no pressure to be "productive."

You need space.

Flash back two weeks.

I have an entire week of unstructured time, except for three appointments. Clients ask to meet, and I smoothly schedule them before and after the week. People want to "get together." I schedule them out. A high-priority board meeting comes up, but, I'm unavailable. So sorry. My week is packed full. With space. And the creativity and insights pour through.

Flash forward again.

How do you defend your spaciousness from the unrelenting onslought of demands and deadlines?

Keys to Space Defense

• Take "Cafe Days"
  
  Nutso marketing guru Sean D'Souza calls these "cafe days." I've adopted them, and they are brilliant. Go spend 2-4 hours in a cafe. By yourself. No computer. Bring a pad of paper and a pen if you like. Eat lunch. Sip tea. Watch people. Daydream. See what happens.
  
  
• Give Yourself One Appointment a Day for You.
  
  If you see clients, or vendors, or whomever, and you typically schedule 60-90 minute appointments, give one of these to yourself every day. Yes, every day.
  
  I struggled with finishing my book for a long time, until my mastermind group convinced me to treat my book like a client. A very big and important client. A daily client.
  
  I made the decision to give my 9am client slot to my book every single day. I finished the book in a little over four months. And, I liked the habit so much, I kept that 9am slot for me. Just try and get a 9am appointment with me. Sorry, I'm booked. But I'll gladly see you at 10:30am.
  
  
• Schedule Unproductive Time.
  
  I really did schedule a whole week of unproductive time, but that was at the end of December. During the rest of the year, I'm more likely to schedule a Cafe Day, or simply an hour or two in the afternoon, once or twice a week. And, when I put it in my calendar, it doesn't move. Someone needs an appointment, an important meeting comes up? Sorry, I'm already booked.
  
  You are not a robot. And even robots need to oil their joints. If you really want to make that quantum jump in your business, then you need to do more than just stand where you want to jump from. because when you make a quantum jump, there is a little bit of time before you land in the new place, when you are flying through unstructured space.

Action step: Take out your calendar right now and look at the next few weeks. It might take a few weeks to start to work it in because of pre-scheduled commitments, but schedule your "unproductive" time right now. And don't give it up for anything.

My very best to you and your business,

Mark Silver