Mind Management, Not Time Management: Productivity When Creativity Matters (Getting Art Done Book 2)

by David Kadavy

Studies suggest that a final way that Incubation occurs is through unconscious processing.

Creative projects can be overwhelming. Moments of Illumination come suddenly, and before those moments come,

it can feel as if there’s no end in sight. But if you’re aware of the Four Stages of Creativity, you can be at peace.

Give yourself adequate time and space for Preparation, and immerse yourself in the subject. You’ll be tempted to try to come up with ideas during this time. Invite the ideas that do come, but don’t burn yourself out pushing through a block. Trust that I...

You can even use Incubation strategically.

Keep the details of Verification from interfering with the creative process.

What kind of work do I need to do right now?, What mood do I need to be in to do that work?, and finally, When was the last time I felt that way?

Seven Mental States of Creative Work.

This is the first state: the Prioritize mental state.

The second mental state is the Explore mental state.

the Research mental state.

the Generate mental state.

In that Generate mental state, I tied together what I learned while in the Explore and Research mental states. I fleshed out an outline I created while in the Prioritize mental state.

the Polish mental state.

These five of the Seven Mental States make creative work happen: Prioritize, Explore, Research, Generate, and Polish. But none of these mental states are possible without the remaining two mental states.

When you’re taking care of the details that make your creative work possible, you’re in the sixth mental state: the Administrate mental state.

After a long day, I needed to refuel. I needed to spend time in the seventh and final mental state: the Recharge mental state.

The Seven Mental States of Creative Work are all about the mood you are in while doing the work. If you master working by mental state, your creative work will progress reliably through the Four Stages of Creativity.

To begin using the Seven Mental States, start with the “big rock” of the Generate mental state, and build around that. Experiment to find your Creative Sweet Spot, and build a habit out of using it in the Generate mental

The goal of exploratory writing isn’t to create something I can form into a final product. Rather, I’m merely exercising the thoughts in my mind.

If what you’re looking for isn’t so clear, approach your “research” in the more open Explore mental state.

be aware that approaching your work in the wrong mental state can cause a creative block.

I find that the right mental state depends a lot upon the clarity of vision I have of the final product. If I lack experience and have an unclear vision, I’ll need to spend a lot of time in the Explore mental state.

Likewise, if it’s such a big project it’s hard to picture in my mind, I’ll need to spend more time...

Switching mental states has costs, so once you’re in a mental state stay in that mental state.

Switching mental states made the blocks worse

in two different ways. One: It made me easily distracted. I didn’t carve neural pathways for focus – I instead carved neural pathways for distraction. Two: It provided a convenient excuse to escape into those distractions.

This is the hidden value of putting words [in brackets] while writing.

Creating a placeholder prevents me from

switching mental states. It allows me to make the most of my creative energy while in the Generate mental state. It also allows me to get more out of my energy when I go back over the writing, in another mental state.

gyokuro green tea

It’s best to be in the Explore mental state when writing in a notebook. You’re trying out ideas,

but those ideas won’t really come to fruition until you revisit them in a Generate mental state – likely with a slippier tool.

construal level theory states that “the farther away you perceive an object, an incident, or an event, the more abstract, broad-minded, big-picture, broad-brush-thinking mindset you get into.”

“Generally the threshold for [ceiling height] for generating ideas would be ten feet or higher. Whereas eight feet and lower you start to become more focused in your thinking, more analytic, more calculating, which of course is the mirror of creative thinking.”

“prospect refuge theory,” is also consistent with thinking more openly while at the top of a skyscraper. Prospect refuge theory

proposes that we’re evolutionarily wired to be more comfortable when we can see out into our surroundings.

to be more creative, look for open spaces, especially with a view. To be more analytical, look for closed spaces. So for the Explore, Generate, Prioritize, and Recharge mental states, go for open spaces. For Research, Polish, and Administrate mental states, go for closed spaces.

when it comes to creativity, studies suggest that a background noise level of about seventy decibels is optimal for idea generation. But it has to be indistinct noise.

“sitting is probably the least conducive position to being in a divergent mindset. But standing seems to help us not only in terms of creativity but also productivity as well,”

when you master how mental states cycle throughout time, you truly have a well-oiled creative machine.

A Creative Cycle is a repeatable progression of focus and release. You’re intentionally doing the Preparation, and providing the Incubation. By repeating this pattern, you eventually achieve Illumination. Then, you can do the Verification necessary to bring your work into the world.

there are sweet spots for each of the Seven Mental States of Creative Work.

Sample Creative Cycles, by time of day, day of week, or season of year – showing how each stage of each cycle could match up with the Four Stages of Creativity.

Tuesday is a hot day to debut anything – whether a blog post, a new book, or an album. There’s simply way more activity on the internet on Tuesdays.

One of the most reliable cycles is the weekly cycle. By following

a weekly cycle, you can deepen your focus and reduce procrastination.

Designating certain times to do certain work had a number of unexpected benefits. First, deciding when I would do a task reduced procrastination. That’s right: What was essentially intentional procrastination, actually served to reduce procrastination.

When a task did come up that I couldn’t put off, I asked myself, How did this task become urgent?

I created systems that prevented crises, and that made my business bulletproof