When we think about creativity, we typically think about a particular type: The day-to-day creativity that we use to solve the problem at hand.
But there is a second type of creativity, Steven Kotler writes in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.
“Ten years ago, I started investigating a critical but rarely discussed type of creativity,” he writes, “I got curious about what it took to sustain that creativity over a multi-decade career.”
The phrase he uses to describe this type of creativity? Long-haul creativity.
“Creative careers are slippery. One-hit wonders abound, but fewer are enduring superstars,” Steven writes. “And this level of commitment requires not just originality but rather that ultimate expression of originality: the consistent reinvention of self. Again and again.
“Long-haul creativity isn’t about a first act or a second act. It’s a third and fourth and fifth act. It’s that ultimate impossible, the infinite game, where the goal is simply to keep on playing.”
There has been little research on this topic, so Steven did his own. He’s spoken with hundreds of high performers, including athletes, artists, scientists, scholars, architects, designers, musicians, and screenwriters.
One of his best sources is entrepreneur, author, and podcaster Tim Ferriss, who has four things he does regularly that have allowed him to sustain creative momentum for almost two decades.
Strategy One: Daily Exercise
Tim recommends at least one hour each day. Why? Because “exercise lowers anxiety levels and helps clear the head,” Steven writes. “As a consistent stress reliever, there may be no better approach.”
Strategy Two: Take Long Walks
A walk serves as an incubation period for creativity. But not just any type of walk. Tim suggests we walk without music, podcasts, or distractions of any kind. Instead, we “purposefully let the mind wander,” Steven quotes Tim.
Rather than focus on a single thing, we allow our brains to “hunt for remote associations between ideas.”
Strategy Three: Seek Out Feedback
Step one is to find the right person to provide feedback. “Everyone has blind spots. Everyone has preferences. Too much overlap between ourselves and our feedback partner can defeat the purpose. But if our partner is too far from us, their feedback will never be truly applicable.”
We are ideally looking for people who can help us re-frame the questions we are asking and challenge the assumptions we are making.
“The people who are the very best at this,” Tim explains, “are the ones who hear my question and respond with: ‘You’re asking the wrong question. The better question is . . .'”
Strategy Four: Keep a “Maker Schedule”
“The term’ maker schedule’ comes from a 2009 essay written by Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham,” Steven notes. With “large blocks of time set aside for focused concentration on one particular task.”
A maker’s schedule differs from a “manager’s schedule,” where each day is divided into “tiny slots, each with a specific purpose: meetings, calls, emails, and so on,” Steven explains.
“A manager’s schedule is useful on occasion, but for sustaining creativity over time, Ferriss believes a maker’s schedule is foundational” for extended periods of creativity. To succeed, we need to “carve out big swatches of time for key creative tasks. If complex problem-solving or analysis is required, [Tim] recommends putting aside blocks of time that are four hours long.”
Just like when we walk, the key to this strategy is eliminating all distractions. We focus on the task alone. No email, texts, calls, or social media of any kind.
“While this may not be how we typically chunk our days,” Steven observes, “on those days when we need creativity, there’s no other choice in the matter.”
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: Which of Tim Ferriss’s strategies for long-term creativity am I currently using? Which ones am I not?
Action: Commit to experimenting with one of Tim’s strategies. Today.