Scheduling Creativity

I must be doing it wrong

(A little creative gardening at the store - complete with overalls and old-lady visor)

I’ve been asked a lot lately how I carve out time in my schedule for creativity.

Often an interviewer will hear how busy my life can be, with touring, recording, coaching, writing, and helping run my partner’s retail business, and question how I make time in the midst of all that for being creative.

At first, I was a bit stumped by the question, phrased in such a way as to make creativity sound like an activity or exercise I should add to my to-do list.

Not being able to come up with a quick answer, I started to wonder if maybe I don’t actually have creativity in my life. If I can’t point to specific times I sit down, a timer on, and pencil in hand, letting those creative juices flow, I must be doing it wrong...

Thankfully, I’m a seasoned overthinker, so once this seed of doubt had been planted, it was only a matter of time before my subconscious brain would get to the bottom of it and wake me at 3 am one morning with the answer:

Time for creativity doesn’t need to be carved out of my schedule because it’s not a task; it’s a mindset.

You can do activities traditionally thought of as “creative” in a very un-creative way.

I’ve worked with some musicians who are the least creative people I’ve ever met. Jazz musicians who can play the correct notes of the scale to match a chord but have no personality or originality in the way they choose to play them. Country musicians who can learn their’s instrument’s part note for note from a recording but bring no swagger or style to their execution and are completely thrown and unable to recover if the singer changes something in the form on the fly at a gig.

A songwriter is a “creative job,” right? But think about some of the worst songs you’ve heard on the radio lately… not the most creative application of the skillset!

The honest truth is, the supposedly “creative art form” of music is sometimes highly creative for me, and sometimes it’s totally not.

I feel incredibly creative when playing music with my own band or with my regular groups. But sometimes, when I’m doing a pickup gig or tour, I’m just going through the motions to learn my part, show up on time, do the best job I can to recreate those album parts exactly live, and collect my paycheck.

As often as I feel creative playing music, I also feel highly creative doing what might be viewed as traditionally “non-creative” activities: designing a new landing page for our business’ website, figuring out the best way to lay out the store displays, designing a marketing plan for a new client, or when learning how to use new software for my podcast.

The fact is, you can pursue “creative” activities in an uncreative way just as you can approach a technical project with a highly creative mindset.

I never plan time for creativity, and yet, I feel creatively fulfilled because it’s become a mindset I bring to all aspects of my life. Creativity is not an activity I sit down to engage with on a schedule; it’s more about keeping my mind in a place where space for creativity is possible.

I know I’m not very creative when I’m stressed about money, so working hard to create financial stability in my life is a big part of keeping my mind primed for creative thinking.

I also struggle to be creative when I’m dealing with anxiety, and I know exercise is a huge help in keeping that at bay, so I make sure to exercise most days.

Eating healthy, limiting alcohol, and sleeping well help with my mindset too… (I know, shocking, right!?).

Basically, the happier and healthier I feel, the more easily I can approach any task or activity in my life with an attitude of joy, curiosity, and creativity.

I’ve realized the best way to find time for creativity isn’t to find time for it at all. It’s to build a life where creativity is possible in everything you do.