productivity v. creativity
i love me some note cards.
i never leave home with out them. they are the perfect place to record a genius idea, deposit toddler scribbles, and spit out used gum. i wrote all of my school papers, from tenth grade through graduate school, by putting one fact one each note card, arranging them into themed stacks, putting the stacks in order, and settling down in front of my computer in the midst of a veritable note card village. i even wrote my most recent homily this way.
when i started the re[frame] productivity system for creative people a few months ago, it wasn’t so much because i had friends who had successfully completed the program and were happy with the results. nor was the main draw its enticing low price of $42 for six weeks worth of daily emails explaining a detailed process in simple, attainable steps. it was the note cards, folks. i loved the idea of writing one “to do” on each note card and organizing them in a cute little box under headings for each day of the week. so excited was i about the power of this little box and its contents to transform my chaotic world that i diligently worked the note card system for months.
during this time, i returned emails and phone calls promptly, sent school picture money back on time, made headway on long overdue projects (the sewing room reorganization, for example), and developed a regular schedule for household tasks such as doing laundry and making dinner. i was the very picture of productivity. the problem was that i wasn’t feeling very creative anymore.
there was no time to whip up crazy pants for my boys in my newly organized sewing room. i began having visions of things i wanted to paint or cook, but there wasn’t time to bring them to life. i pictured myself (and still do) dropping by amro music of an afternoon, renting a fiddle, and spending “free time” indulging myself and horrifying others with the excruciating cacophony only a beginning fiddler could produce.
so for the last six weeks or so, i have abandoned my dear note cards. we are living in piles of laundry and dirty dishes but the laundry now contains several pairs of fabulous new crazy pants for the kids, and the dirty dishes are the result of creative cooking experiments. i have devoured a few great books (both the for-fun kind and the brain-stimulating kind) but there are an embarrassing number of unread emails in my inbox.
i generally prefer allowing my intuition to guide me from one task to the next. the only problem is that my intuition is not so good at taking care of business. and after a while, it becomes evident that i need things like friends, and clean underwear, and an unsoiled mug for my coffee.
so today, i’m getting back on the re[frame] wagon. i’m returning to the world of note cards. however, instead of attacking every piece of unfinished business in my life the way my dog attacks his breakfast (in an near-violent frenzy), i’m going to take a more measured approach. i have only one goal for the week, and that is cleaning out the bird’s closet. i know there must be clothes to fit this child in there somewhere!
is there any way to be both productive and creative at the same time? or is this particular brand of balance just another part of a mother’s quest for pie-in-the-sky equanimity? i think i’ll just write these questions on note cards and carry them around in my purse.
Tags: cooking, crazy pants, creativity, note cards, painting, productivity, re[frame], sewing
November 15th, 2010 at 8:01 am
The answer is that there is no one way to do things. My suggestion is that you merge the best of both worlds. How about adding a few check boxes on your list, like a box for “making crazy pants” or one for “playing bad fiddle.” With all that you have going on in a given day/week/month, it becomes more necessary to actually reserve time for non-task related events. It may not sound natural to schedule “spontaneity” but it is better than not having it at all. After all even in school recess and free period were on the schedule and we all looked forward to them. Good luck.
November 15th, 2010 at 9:27 am
you’re asking questions i’ve asked myself. there are parts to reframe that made life more smooth, that gave me a sense of being on top of tasks. yet, there’s a lot of creativity that comes from chaos.
so balance is a path i’m still on, finding that thoughts of centering myself around particular tasks in this moment, this day meld well. for instance, my sweet boy is on the edge of a cold so he’s not in preschool this morning. i’ve been away from home with the going to and fro lately, in the studio (which feels like never enough) and keeping food on the table pretty well. as such, the boy’s room is a mess, with toys + clothes filling every inch. so, i’ve taken the morning to center on the chaos of my home, filling the spaces with warmth and love while giving my mind the space to dream of what’s to come in the studio today. i’ve also thought of two quilts i want to create. and my sweet boy continues to pull toys on his floor. now it’s time to get him involved & part with some of the clutter slowly. i’m just as sentimental.
it’s something of the spirituality of sweeping for me: cleaning out what’s daily dirt, where we live, so we can live in the space some more. in the process of sweeping, i have the space to breathe deeper, to love freely, and to be carried by my thoughts.
perhaps my voice here is a jumbled mess, perhaps it’s a space to allow something to resonate. i know i want both more and less reframe in my space, so i’ve been trying to see “what fits best” for me. i’m eager to hear what works best for you, too.
so it’s time for me to part with some of the organizational clutter. i’ve been thinking i can do things simply, which can open into some really remarkable creativity. we’ll see. it’s so much about what we center on in the moment. now, a cup of tea and continuing to clean shop with my boy.
November 15th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
welcome to my world. too busy being “productive” to do anything remotely “creative.” hopefully not for too much longer…
November 15th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
i’m not organized either way, but i’m not sure that productive and creative are opposites. i’m most productive when i’m creative, and it’s errands, volunteer work, and other household things that take me away from that real productivity. i’m lucky enough to have a job where i create things, and i know that’s not the norm, but i hope society can begin to see creative achievements as productive in themselves instead of as the enemy of productivity.
November 16th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
My response got too long so here:
http://theblueroomblog.org/2010/11/16/balance-productivity/
November 16th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I like winnowing down the MustDos added to Doug’s idea of adding creative things to the ToDo list.
(Hi! I found my way here via MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s blog.)
November 17th, 2010 at 9:21 am
You are wonderful and I think I might be in love with you. love your beautiful, messy, crazy self who knows enough to know enough is enough and gets down with some organizational notecards every now and then. you are the make shift revolution. is there a reason we don’t hang out together more often?
November 20th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
I find that this is a constant give and take for me. I’m the queen of to-do lists. In fact, sometimes I think I have made an idol of my handy clipboard that I tote around with me all over the house so that I can always be mindful of what I need to do or so that I can write down something I need to do the moment I think of it.
But so rarely do things like “goof off with Darah” make the list, and if they do, they are side-stepped in favor of “respond to 10 emails” or something else that is so tangible.
So my solution is very similar to yours. Some days, I am really in the mood to TCB, and so I hold tight to that clip board. Other days, I look over my list and declare it all to be stupid, and then run off and play. Some days I ignore that impulse, and when I do, I always regret it.
And I try to strike a balance over the course of a week, and not so much from day to day. And if I’ve snuggled and kissed on Darah throughout the day, nothing else really matters. Even a positively repugnant kitchen counter.