Constraints are a creative person's best friend.
Most of us live in hope that if we can throw off the constraints of our life we'll finally reach peak creativity. We dream about quitting our job, going full time - thinking no constraints are the answer.
But maybe constraints are a feature & not a bug for our creativity?
If we use them correctly creative constraints are like bumpers in bowling. They help us to hit the pins without getting off track. And in some cases they make us even more creative (think about how creative you need to be to stay WITHIN the lines).
Applying creative constraints has been a major factor in me going from 'wannabe' creator to actually shipping a heck of a lot of creative work in the past 3 years.
Publish Daily. Every day I wake up knowing I will publish something that day. The constraint keeps me on the lookout for new ideas, gets me in my writing chair at 5am each morning & pushes me to be creative even when I don't feel like it.
300 Word Essays. Not one of these essays is over 300 words. Is it hard to cut out things I think are amazing? 100% Does it make me a better writer in the process 100%.
60 Minutes. I give myself no more than 60 minutes to write content each day. This is a real constraint in my life - I have a full-time job. Could I do more if I had more time? Maybe. But the constraint helps me beat procrastination & perfectionism in my writing.
Stop viewing your constraints as a bug and start using them as a feature.
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