My five tried-and-tested habits for getting in a creative mindset
Yesterday was a typical London day for me with a mix of working (mostly offscreen), wandering around, noodling on some ideas, and meeting clients.
I hung out at four different spaces - two coffee shops and two hotel lobbies - which provided great environments for getting some work done. I also paid a lunchtime visit to a photography gallery. In between appointments and venues, I walked 7.5 miles.
I always find that a day with so many ‘backdrops’ really drives my creativity. This principle - of finding different spaces to fuel my work - is hard-baked into my five tried-and-tested go-to creative habits:
Step away from the desk. To get creatively energised, a day crammed with back-to-back meetings isn’t going to cut it. Diarise blank space in the calendar and step away from your desk. If that’s challenging in your work environment, at the very least get a change of scenery at lunchtime.
Move. Wandering around has always been at the heart of my working practices, so a day where I can walk between meetings is a good day for me. I love those moments of clarity that occur when heading down a side street or simply absentmindedly observing street life.
Get offscreen. I often leave my MacBook at home. It means I can travel lighter; and also I find old-school paper and pens are better for ideas generation. Yesterday I was designing a framework for a new workshop and used coloured card and sharpie to map it out.
Go to multiple spaces. Backdrops shouldn’t be underrated. They can strongly influence how a meeting or ideas session pans out. Yesterday I mixed it up, with some spaces I knew well and those that were unfamiliar. I sat in the window at Allpress Coffee in Shoreditch; I had a meeting with a client at another window seat at The Hoxton Hotel in Southwark. I know how physical space affects my mood, energies and contentment level - it’s why I’m so fussy about where I hang out.
Take a curiosity break. Whenever I have time and there’s a bookshop or record shop en route, I make sure I duck in. Yesterday I had an hour or so free so I made a detour to see some street art - a great piece featuring my Microsoft pal Steve Clayton (pictured) - and had a whistle stop tour of a new exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery. A change of pace plus fresh perspectives, whether that’s in a gallery, book shop or record store etc, engages a different bit of my brain and always gives me a boost.
These principles aren’t rocket science. In fact they’re so simple that it can be easy to think they don’t matter. But I know they do. Over 20-odd years of trying to make my working life better, and I know that when I incorporate these principles into my day, they make all the difference.
