The video below is an edited version of a longer talk on creativity, given by John Cleese in Belgium. (Remember John Cleese from Monty Python and Faulty Towers?)
Pretty much everything he talks about applies to freelancers like us. Yes, what we do is creative!
I absolutely agree with him about “sleeping on” a problem. I have had the same experience many times. I’m struggling with something in the evening, sleep on it, and then find the answer to the problem is easy to see when I get up the next morning.
But most of all, I like what he said about carving out some space and time…a place where you can be creative. It’s hard or even impossible to be creative when you are being interrupted or distracted.
For freelancers, interruption often comes in the form of family members, or even pets, wanting your attention just while you are totally focused on some work. It can take a long time to regain that level of focus once the interruption has been resolved.
The other factor that destroys the calm of our creative moments is entirely our own fault – we allow ourselves to become distracted.
If you want to be more creative…carve out a place and time. Close the door. Turn off your phone, your email and, above all, all your social media pages and dashboards.
At our core, we are all creative. But creativity can’t happen if you don’t give it space…a calm and silent space.
Enjoy the video.
About the author: Nick Usborne is an online writer, copywriter, author and coach. Read more…
I really enjoyed this video, Nick. How interesting to see John Cleese in this mode, and his thoughts on creativity are incredibly useful. Make it safe for the tortoise mind – yes! And I am going to have to do something about my anxious dog…. 🙂 Thanks for posting.
Thank you Nick!
Very interesting, and makes a lot of sense; right on the money, I’d say.
And, like Julie, I also thought it was interesting to see John in this mode.
Cheers,
Jim.
Great video, Nick, thank you for finding it. I’ve always loved the work of John Cleese.
I was interested in his comments about what happens when you rewrite something after you have lost it … I’ve done that myself, with the same result.
And I totally agree with him about ‘sleeping on it’ … that always works, too.
AJM