Creativity and the Pressure Cooker of Time Management

We’re all familiar with the scenes: people driving their cars while talking on cell phones, attending meetings while communicating on their Blackberries, trying to hustle the kids off to school while preparing lunches, completing the daily “to-do list,” all while trying to squeeze in a moment to answer nature’s call. It’s called “multi-tasking,” and it’s become the dominant metaphor of our time-scarce age. Time is at a premium. And we spend so much time reacting to the multitude of instantaneous demands placed upon us that we often lose the ability to plan, let alone think. Then, at the end of a whirlwind day, many of us find ourselves mindlessly vegging out in front of the television in a vain attempt to quiet an already over-rattled mind.

There are many casualties of the time pressure-cooker most of us find ourselves in on a daily basis. But one of the biggest casualties is creativity. In his book Time Management [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK], Marshall Cook points out that creativity never really “disappears” when we become too enslaved by the demands of time. Our thought processes never stop. Our mind is always working, and it’s virtually impossible to stop ourselves from thinking. Rather, becoming trapped by time demands so great that you no longer reserve vital time to reflect on the day’s events, your circumstances, your needs and desires, etc. causes a disconnect between your abundant creative resources and your capacity for gaining illuminating insights that could make a real difference in the quality of your life.

Mark McGuinness has a small but insightful e-book on time management for the creative soul in the business world. In it, he points out that with the plethora of demands on each of us, some degree of organization is essential if we’re to maintain our creativity. Now, for some creative “free spirits,” the ability to organize does not come naturally or easily. But because it’s so essential to “take time” to allow the creative juices flow, if we fail to impose on ourselves at least some degree of organization or persistently allow ourselves to be easily distracted, that “time” never comes.

Many time management experts agree that we have to rationally prioritize the demands we place upon ourselves if we’re to remain sane in this time-starved world, let alone be creative. Prioritizing means truthfully distinguishing those things that are important to us versus those things that are absolutely essential and then rank-ordering the things that are important. Sometimes, we labor under the impression that we have to answer every email, follow-up on every call, or say “yes” to every invitation. In fact, the ultimate savior of our creative spirit might just be the simple two-letter word: “No.” At some point we have to put a cap on the demands we place upon ourselves. Otherwise we won’t have either the time or the energy to engage in imaginative thought or avenues of creative expression.

Over the years, I’ve become much better at saying “no.” It’s not that I’m mean or insensitive about the concerns of others or that I simply enjoy being uncooperative. It’s just that I know if I say “yes” to everyone and everything else, I must of necessity say “no” to some of my own needs. And for me, living life with no time to let my creative juices flow is like not really living at all. So, over the years I’ve become much more comfortable with not placing upon myself all the demands I once thought couldn’t be refused. Not saying “yes” to every invitation has left some precious time for me. Time to muse. Time to reflect. Time to plan. And time to create.