Comments on: How to Eliminate Creative Blocks

By: Energy Management – Personal Development Basics

Energy Management – Personal Development Basics — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:03:47 +0000

[...] Separate creative and focused tasks [...]

By: When Good Advice Goes Bad – How I Escaped A Self-imposed Work Trap

When Good Advice Goes Bad – How I Escaped A Self-imposed Work Trap — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:11:26 +0000

[...] But as a result my writing suffered too! Because I always tried to force my thinking down too narrow an alley, and focused thinking kills creativity. [...]

By: GROW #3 – Options

GROW #3 – Options — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:32:02 +0000

[...] you cannot be both creative and focused at the same time, because the two states of mind are directly contradictory. In fact, they are caused by [...]

By: Vlad Dolezal

Vlad Dolezal — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:09:42 +0000

@Shirls:

I’ve also heard of people using lucid dreaming for their creative work (because while they’re aware, they’re still asleep, and so mostly in the super-creative brain phase. I’ll definitely investigate that myself

By: Shirls

Shirls — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:50:17 +0000

Vlad, whether your theory is based on science or not, it is true anyway. It explains why we get the best ideas in the bath or as you fall asleep and even more so as you wake up. I reckon the trick is to get those ideas down in rough and then do the focus bit.

By: Vlad Dolezal

Vlad Dolezal — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:02:21 +0000

@Mike:

Oh yea, I remember always coming up with jokes too late. Those evil face-to-face conversations… even a 5-second delay can kill the right moment!

It might just be about staying calm. It might also be you simply need some practice… sort of like a master chess player can play a great move within 3 seconds without even thinking, while an amateur chess player might need a few minutes to find the same move. If you care about that, you could try practicing in online chats – they slow down the conversation about 4x, enough to give you extra time to think of those jokes/arguments.

@Clyde:

Ya, it’s one of those things that seem so obvious once you know about it

@Salman:

Anonymous posted a link above to a study of jazz pianists. When they start improvising, most of their “focused” brain parts (inhibition, critical thinking, etc.) shut down, and they just play.

You’d think that playing the piano requires focus, but they’ve practiced it so much the finger movements come automatically to them, so they can focus on the music.

I think it’s the same with the painters. The brush strokes are completely automatic for them, so they can turn off their mind and let creativity flow.

That’s my explanation

By: Salman

Salman — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:12:56 +0000

hey there,

one thought crossed my mind after i read this…
all the great paintings we’ve seen… i.e. from Picasso, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, are considered creative works. Yet, during the painting process, they must have required an immensely focused mind…..else they wouldn’t have turned out they way they have….

So, i infer that, at some stage of creativity, focus has to come in….
any thoughts on that?

By: Clyde Machine

Clyde Machine — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:58:52 +0000

Hey Vlad, thanks for this post! Focus and creativity are opposed? I wasn’t aware they were at all affecting each other, but when I read this through, I see why when I was writing that essay the other night I was having trouble writing it, even though I had ideas swimming around in my head. I usually don’t have trouble writing, but now I see what causes the problems I do get.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:27:23 +0000

Mhhh could be an explanation why I often suck in face-to-face conversations: Because of being nervous (→ adrenaline) I find the best arguments and jokes only afterwards and not right there when I need them. So being calm and cool-headed would enforce creative and clean thinking …

By: Vlad Dolezal

Vlad Dolezal — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:49:43 +0000

@Hulbert:

Or maybe your mind was all over the place because you didn’t like the maths problems. Never underestimate procrastination

But hey, if your mind is all over the place, you probably always have tons of ideas to blog about! (Coming up with new post topics is the trickiest bit for me).