“…we think that it isn’t as important.”

If you’re like me, life is generally busy, and creativity can often be pushed aside to make way for life. This is common for many people, especially as we grow older. If we haven’t ‘made it’ as a creative in the industry we desire, we think that it isn’t important anymore. However this can become frustrating, and more commonly depressing. I’m of the belief that this should never be allowed to happen as in the world of creativity there is always some form of outlet, and by being a creative we need to creatively find that outlet; or even design it ourselves. We can begin to help ourselves by planning to be creative, and finding our outlet will come when the time is right.

“…it naturally flows into mentally preparing yourself”

The advantage of planning a time to be creative is that it naturally flows into mentally preparing for the practice of being creative. If we plan the time to be creative, then any spare moment leading to that time can be spent thinking about how we might use it; and how to use it wisely. This could be as simple as deciding beforehand where you might practice your creativity, what sort of space you might like to surround you, what you might like to use, or how long it’s going to take to achieve a specific task in your chosen creative process.

“If we were to sit down to write a book, is there any point in beginning to write until we know what we’re meant to write about?”

Knowing the moment that we are planning to be creative aids us to prevent any subconscious temptation of a ‘creative block’ in our planned time…

Poor planning + No available time + A lack of discipline = Creative Block

A creative block comes when we sit down to work and we haven’t actually planned what work we are sitting down to do. We may have allowed the time, but if we were to sit down to write a book, is there any point in beginning to write until we know what we’re meant to write about? Or perhaps even to ask what we’re writing with? Something as simple as trying to find the correct tool to be creative with can invite the excuse of creative block into our domain, and again  this returns to the importance of needing to plan.

“…planning comes in the form of simplifying our process of being creative in order to allow us to be playful.”

Planning creativity is simply planning to do something, and that something will inevitably be something creative, but the importance of planning comes in the form of simplifying our process of being creative in order to allow us to be playful. The term ‘playful’ is used by many successful creatives, as it refers to the childlike joy that we feel whilst being creative. The joy of discovery, the joy of brilliance in our work, the joy and sense of pride in our creation and accomplishments. If we don’t give time to planing our creativity, this playfulness can become more difficult achieve and can result in being replaced with a continuing sense of frustration; which can lead to a deeper sense of depression.

“Invite the childlike joy into your creative time, and play.”

It’s important to feel excited about our work, and to be excited to be creative, as in essence this is the feeling that can get you out of bed in the morning. This is the feeling that encourages the element of playfulness that needs to be introduced into our creative time. Invite the childlike joy into your creative time, and play. Plan, simplify your process, demystify it, never use the excuse of creative block, and simply be creative.