LESS IS MORE!
Free your creativity by setting limitations. It may seem contradictory, but limitations grant you the freedom to create. I know, I know. Stick with me on this one.
Setting limitations for your creative works can help spark innovative ideas and creativity.
Limitations, depending on your craft, can be applied to anything:
- A designer, designing a logo, can limit the number of colors she uses.
- A chef, cooking a meal, can limit the number of ingredients she uses.
- An artist, painting with water-colors, can limit the number of colors she uses.
- An entrepreneur, starting a business, can limit their budget.
Remember, nothing is more paralyzing to a creative than the idea of limitless possibilities. The idea of infinite possibilities can be downright scary... for it suggests that we can do anything.
Too many choices can freeze you in your tracks. When you're stuck overthinking, unable to decide, you're suffering from decision paralysis. But if you start to simplify your choices, you'll find it much easier to get the creative wheels turning.
But, what if you don't want to narrow down your choices?
Good news...
There is another way to ignite your creativity, and...
That my friend is to... limit your time.
It's a strategy backed by science that can work wonders for inspiring your creativity
Parkinson’s law says that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
In other words, the more time you give yourself to complete a task, the more it will expand to consume that time. But here's the kicker: if you limit your time, the brain will work harder to make quick decisions without you even realizing it.
The quality of those decisions may not always be perfect. But, what's important is that the work is getting done. You'll be moving the needle towards a rough draft that can be shaped, polished, and improved over time.
Try this, next time you have a creative block...
Give yourself an aggressive deadline to finish the project you are working on (e.g., 60 minutes to whip up a preliminary sketch for your oil painting)
Now, the sketch might not be a masterpiece, but it'll be something to work with. And having started means you’re no longer blocked. And that’s a beautiful thing, if you ask me.
