Creativity Through Contraints (1.13.23)
“But without constraints, we’re left with no tension and no chance for innovation or surprise.”
-Seth Godin, The Practice
In last week’s volume of The Weekly PRST, my weekly email for individuals seeking to connect their mind, body, spirit and money, I shared a recommendation of Seth Godin’s book The Practice. I listened to it on our trip to and from Marco Island and it was the exact book I should have consumed at that time—I’ve had the physical copy since it was released but never picked it up.
I was re-listening to the end of the book this week and chapter 204 got stuck in my head.
In this chapter and the couple that follow, Seth discusses the idea of working within a set of constraints to create our best work. He shares a few examples of where putting constraints on the work a Creator was doing helped them improve their work and find new levels of success.
I’ve heard this concept before but it never resonated with me…I guess I wasn’t ready.
For some reason, listening to Seth talk about the benefit of constraints I began to think about where I could put constraints and how could it make my work better, different, and ultimately have more impact. I was actually excited about the thought of putting constraints on myself.
This morning as I reflected on why all of a sudden constraints felt right to me, I came to the conclusion that by operating under a set of constraints would keep my mind from wandering too far. When I’m in a creative flow, which has been frequently lately, I have no shortage of ideas—they come to me like I’m Zach Galifianakis at the poker table in The Hangover.
While it’s great to have plenty of ideas, it can sometimes be distracting or overwhelming to actually start the work. But, with a set of constraints it limits how far my mind can go with the ideas and will allow me to channel all of that creative energy within the constraints—I think of it as a more potent dose of creativity.
I also came to the conclusion that constraints sound more attractive now because I have clarity about where I’m going with all of my creative ventures; I no longer need to wander to find my unique path…I found it.
PLACING THE CONSTRAINTS
I’m going to continue to think about where I can put constraints and begin to implement them. A few of my initial thoughts were:
Only using 1 lens when shooting videos for PRST.
Limiting the number of words when writing, the Daily Notes might be the first place I try this.
Reducing the number of formats I’m creating on (this one will be hard because I enjoy writing, podcast, videos, etc.).
I’m also looking at where I can put constraints in my day to day life, which may be more applicable to you.
I shared in an earlier note“Simplicity” is my word for 2023, and in my effort to simplify my life, adding constraints to different aspects of my life may help in that initiative.
Parkinson’s Law states “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”, which means if we give ourselves a week to complete a task, it’ll take us the full week. But if we give ourselves two day to complete the same task, it’ll take us two days to complete it. Adding constraints in our life could help us be more productive, efficient, and find more time by preventing us from procrastinating and allowing projects to take longer than they should.
Another area I’m considering adding constraints is with my time.
I enjoy having conversations with people with no expectations of an outcome…I rarely say no to “brain-picking” sessions, hop on calls with prospective clients to help them find a financial advisor that is a better fit, and fill the role of a mentor from afar. I enjoy doing all of this but I also know I do too much of it. By adding a constraint of a certain number of these calls/meetings a month, I can still do what I enjoy, help others out when I can, but gain back some of my time to pursue my own creative goals.
Where are areas in your life, creatively or just day-to-day, that would benefit from adding constraints?
Be mindful though—too much of a good thing can be counterproductive.
Don’t place too many constraints on yourself that you cramp your creativity or become a robot and inflexible in your daily life. Balance is the key and we each have an ideal balance between freedom and constraints.
We just have to find it.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
