Steps Towards Creativity
I worked from home before it was a thing. Getting out of the office showed me that creativity and productivity can hit at seemingly unusual times.
In 2013, the same day I wrote the last check for my daughter’s college tuition—and with the full support of my husband—I sent in my resignation letter. Yep, I quit my job. Leaving the company where I’d worked for 25 years wasn’t an easy decision. In fact, it was downright scary. But I was unhappy with my current role, and going in to work every day to promote a product I didn’t believe in was becoming unbearable. I wasn’t 100% sure what I was going to do. But I knew I needed a change.
My husband and I had discussed it. We’d start a consulting business as our stepwise approach to retirement. I thought I’d start by looking for some “technical writing” gigs since I had so much experience and for me, it was easy work. But when I put my feelers out, the very first person I contacted, at a company I’d worked with peripherally for years, wanted to hire me as a full-time contractor in a marketing/sales/writing role. It paid much better than merely technical writing. I found their interest in hiring me so quickly both surprising and flattering.
I considered their generous offer. I had only one request: I had to work from home. The company was in Georgia. I lived in Oregon. I was not going to move. They agreed and within one day of quitting my job, I was once again gainfully employed—actually making more money—and working on my own terms.
It was during this time that I realized inspiration came at weird times. I could no longer go to my company’s onsite gym before or after work as I was accustomed. Instead, I started taking long walks or jogs at lunchtime. At first, I considered that hour as “time off” and I didn’t bill for it. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was when I did my best work. My lunch hour was often my most productive hour of the day.
For some reason, the mindless act of putting one leg in front of the other seemed to put me into some sort of ultra-creative zone. I could nearly always count on getting both clarity and inspiration on these outings. If I needed some clever words for a marketing tagline – zing! It would hit me. If I had a technical article to write, bam! A creative outline would just come to me. Sometimes I’d even write the whole article in my head and had to quicken my pace to get home and capture it before it slipped into oblivion. My lunch hour was definitely billable.
It wasn’t a fluke. When I got the itch to do something creative this past spring and decided to write a book—sort of on a whim—I really didn’t think I had a creative bone in my body. But as I started thinking about it more and more, scene after scene just came to me during my daily walks. My steps to becoming a creative writer were actual steps on the sidewalk.
I’ve wondered about this phenomenon.
Am I alone in this? Apparently not. Just doing a quick Google search showed me research has confirmed that walking boosts creativity, and many great writers, philosophers, and inventers have found this to be true in their own lives and careers. So, get out of your chair to get creative. And if you see me out walking, I’m probably actually writing my next book.
In 2013, the same day I wrote the last check for my daughter’s college tuition—and with the full support of my husband—I sent in my resignation letter. Yep, I quit my job. Leaving the company where I’d worked for 25 years wasn’t an easy decision. In fact, it was downright scary. But I was unhappy with my current role, and going in to work every day to promote a product I didn’t believe in was becoming unbearable. I wasn’t 100% sure what I was going to do. But I knew I needed a change.
My husband and I had discussed it. We’d start a consulting business as our stepwise approach to retirement. I thought I’d start by looking for some “technical writing” gigs since I had so much experience and for me, it was easy work. But when I put my feelers out, the very first person I contacted, at a company I’d worked with peripherally for years, wanted to hire me as a full-time contractor in a marketing/sales/writing role. It paid much better than merely technical writing. I found their interest in hiring me so quickly both surprising and flattering.
I considered their generous offer. I had only one request: I had to work from home. The company was in Georgia. I lived in Oregon. I was not going to move. They agreed and within one day of quitting my job, I was once again gainfully employed—actually making more money—and working on my own terms.
It was during this time that I realized inspiration came at weird times. I could no longer go to my company’s onsite gym before or after work as I was accustomed. Instead, I started taking long walks or jogs at lunchtime. At first, I considered that hour as “time off” and I didn’t bill for it. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was when I did my best work. My lunch hour was often my most productive hour of the day.
For some reason, the mindless act of putting one leg in front of the other seemed to put me into some sort of ultra-creative zone. I could nearly always count on getting both clarity and inspiration on these outings. If I needed some clever words for a marketing tagline – zing! It would hit me. If I had a technical article to write, bam! A creative outline would just come to me. Sometimes I’d even write the whole article in my head and had to quicken my pace to get home and capture it before it slipped into oblivion. My lunch hour was definitely billable.
It wasn’t a fluke. When I got the itch to do something creative this past spring and decided to write a book—sort of on a whim—I really didn’t think I had a creative bone in my body. But as I started thinking about it more and more, scene after scene just came to me during my daily walks. My steps to becoming a creative writer were actual steps on the sidewalk.
I’ve wondered about this phenomenon.
Am I alone in this? Apparently not. Just doing a quick Google search showed me research has confirmed that walking boosts creativity, and many great writers, philosophers, and inventers have found this to be true in their own lives and careers. So, get out of your chair to get creative. And if you see me out walking, I’m probably actually writing my next book.
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