Set A Deadline to Goad Your Creative Juices

[Note: Earlier this week Kathy Sierra (Creating Passionate Users) paid me a compliment in her post on the Five Things I Don't Know About You meme. So, I'll dedicate my post today to her because it deals with a topic that she has also written about (Creativity on Speed) back in December, 2005. Here's my take on the joy of deadlines.]

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Strict limits can be a powerful stimulant to the creative process. If you've ever been asked to solve a challenging problem with a small budget or a tight deadline, you've probably found that you were much more resourceful than if you had been granted a ton of money and time. As architect Frank Lloyd Wright repeatedly told his students,

"Limits are an
artist's best friend."

That's because they force us to think beyond conventional solutions and find answers we might not otherwise have discovered.

For example, skyscrapers weren't developed by people with cheap, unlimited land, but rather by innovators who wrestled with the problem, "How do we create abundant office space on small pieces of expensive real estate.

Another example: Islamic artists were (and are) generally forbidden by the Koran to depict images of the human body and recognizable life forms in their work. As a result, they channeled their passion for form into representing patterns that can be found in the natural world.

Their ingenuity is especially evident in the Alcazar and Alhambra palaces in Spain, where fourteenth century Moorish designers crafted intricate symmetries in their wall and floor mosaics. (Interestingly, seven centuries later, physicists have determined that there are thirty-two different ways in which atoms and molecules in a crystal can be symmetrically arranged in a pattern and these are all represented in the Moorish mosaics!)

Similarly, a poet may be more inspired by the challenge of writing a sonnet, which must follow a standard pattern of rhyme and meter, than by writing free verse. Indeed, some people enjoy adding constraints to their problems as a way of spurring their thinking. Composer Stephen Sondheim says:

"If you ask me to write a song about the ocean, I'm stumped. But if you tell me to write a ballad about a woman in a red dress falling off her stool at three in the morning, I'm inspired."

Over the years, I've asked many, many people when they get their ideas. The answers I've received run pretty much along these lines:

• "When I'm just playing around."
• "When I'm faced with a problem."
• "When I'm doing something else."
• "When I'm not taking myself too seriously." 
• "When things break down and I have to fix them."

However, the one comment I've heard more than any other is:

"The ultimate inspiration is the deadline."

Thus, having limited time is a constraint that seems to goad lots of people's creativity. I've found this has been true for me both professionally and personally. 

When I assign specific open-ended problems to groups in my seminars, I've found that those groups that have less time to generate ideas (e.g., 15 minutes vs. 25 minutes on the same problem) often have better and more creative solutions than the groups with more time. That's because they seem to get right to the point, have less self-censorship, and are less concerned with proper protocol.

This is also the way I prefer to work personally. If I have a project, I like to give myself tight mini-deadlines. This does several things: first, it forces me to get rid of my excuses and dive right in to do some work.  Second, it forces me to trust my own creative instincts. Third, since I'm actually doing stuff, I feel comfortable making little experiments along the way. And fourth, it allows me to get "big chunks done" and then to feel comfortable temporarily stepping away from the problem and be in a position where additional inspiration might arise while I'm "thinking aside." (Everyone has their own creative style; this is what works for me.)

Some questions to think about: What's your objective? Can you state it in a simple sentence? What are the three key things you'll need to do to reach it? Where is your sense of urgency? What tight deadlines can you give yourself?

Comments

[Liz Strauss]

Being in publishing meant deadlines were a way of life. I sometimes feel lost without them. I've had to structure them back into my life to get things done.

I have the same response that you do with these two pre- and post-deadlines added in(maybe yours are implicit). Time to reflect for a few minutes at the front end. Time to walk away before a last look at the back end.

When I know I have those two little deadline spaces before and after, then my creativity is free to run wild and my internal editor can just keep her mouth shut. :)

[Patrick]

I'm always amazed at what I can do when I am limited on time and resources. I'm glad I read this today because I have on my calendar to update my blogs but have been stuck deciding on what to write. I'm probably going to reduce the categories on one of my blogs so I can focus better. I am committed to setting stricter deadline and focusing more on certain areas in 2007. Thanks for your encouragement.

[Ron]

It's great to find your blog! I am a fan of your whack pack and am delighted to see you in a new medium.

Deadlines are certainly one way to go. But deadlines often have an arbitrary sense to them that leads to sub optimization. "Conquer Baghdad ASAP" or "Get a constitution approved by February" can lead to actions that are great / creative / impressive in terms of the short-term goal but might mess up your larger goal ("establish a stable democracy"). It's great to have a sense of urgency. It just has to be in the right context.

[Drew McLellan]

Roger,

Boy do I know this! We call it creativity on demand. If I had to sit around and wait for the muses to inspire me, I'd be in big trouble!

I think most writers would agree that given too much time, they tinker with their work to the point that they damage it.

I'm not advocating just whipping something out with no thought. But knowing you have a deadline certainly helps you stay focused and doesn't let self-doubt or second guessing destroy a good thing.

Drew

[Roger von Oech]

Liz: I think we use deadlines in similar ways. I hate to be frantic at the end, which is one reason I like to give myself an earlier deadline — to have some relaxed final thinking.

Patrick: A wonderful benefit of deadlines is that they force you to focus on the important elements, and, in the process, allow you to eliminate some of the lesser important (or non-essential) elements.

Ron: Indeed. Context does determine a lot of things. If you've got the wrong objective, getting there twice as fast won't make it the right objective. BTW, I enjoyed visiting your site.

[Mark McGuinness]

Nice to start the New Year with a deadline!

This rings completely true for me - certainly did when I was finishing my dissertation last year!

And I love writing sonnets, sestinas and other rhymed verse forms. A nice poetry game is for a group of you to randomly pick six words, then you all have 60 seconds to write a poem including those words.

[david armano]

I totally agree 100 percent. Deadlines are not the enemy of creativity. If anything it stimulates the problem solving process which in essance is creativity. Being spread to thin is another story. If we task our creative teams with too many different problems to solve, stretching them in all kinds of different directions--that is when we point the pistol at our feet and pull the trigger.

BTW, who is Kathy Sierra? ;)

[Roger von Oech]

Drew: Thanks for your thoughts. I'm reminded of Bach in the 1720s in Leipzig. In addition to all his other duties of writing state music, teaching, being a father and a husband, etc., every Monday he had to write a full blown cantata — usually 20-25 minutes in length — with all the voices, etc. Tuesday was scoring day. Wednesday was practice. Sunday was performance. And then another Monday every week throughout the year.

David: Good point about having too many deadlines. Are you missing any toes? Or do you have steel boots?

[david armano]

Steel boots when I can remember to wear them. :)

[Juicing For Weightloss]

Applying a fair amount of pressure can certainly get those artistic juices flowing but be forewarned too much can break a person down and dry up those juices too.

[Steve Jones]

A very good post and an excellent blog. I am now a follower. Thanks, Steve @ http://www.study-aids.co.uk

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