Give yourself time to be creative

Isn't it great? You never have to be apart from your email, the news, celebrity gossip, or stupid, angry political discourse.

It's not great at all. It's ruining our ability to think new thoughts, have ideas, be creative. We're always plugged in, always running like hamsters in wheels, but never getting anywhere.

That's the important point in a recent article at The 99 Percent: What Happened to Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking & Sacred Space.

The article is worth reading, because it offers suggestions for creating your own "interruption-free spaces." It prescribes these things for people who need to keep space in their lives for being creative:

1. Rituals for unplugging. Create ways to separate yourself from the stream of information and activity. Think Sabbath.
2. Daily doses of deep thinking. Spend some time every day just thinking.
3. Meditation and naps to clear the mind.
4. Self-awareness and psychological investment. We often avoid silence and thinking because we'll have to confront ourselves. Deal with those issues that keep you from being quiet. So you can be quiet.
5. Protect the state of no-intent. Sometimes the best path forward is to stop running ahead. Just do nothing for a while.

Thanks to Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog for the tip.