Do you have the freedom to make a creative mess?
- Thread starter kelstarrising
- Start date
contradictory feelings
I very much like a neat environment -- it is relaxing.
But I often work in a messy environment -- so much so that I am asked 'how can you work in that mess?'
My answer -- I have the power to focus -- I never see the mess.
My thought -- a messy environment FORCES focus -- you may be MORE focused in a messy environment than a neat one because you HAVE to be.
Regards,
Rob
I very much like a neat environment -- it is relaxing.
But I often work in a messy environment -- so much so that I am asked 'how can you work in that mess?'
My answer -- I have the power to focus -- I never see the mess.
My thought -- a messy environment FORCES focus -- you may be MORE focused in a messy environment than a neat one because you HAVE to be.
Regards,
Rob
Barb
Registered
Interesting
I hate working in a messy environment. And if I need to stimulate my creative side, I don't sit at my desk. I either go outside or to another environment completely. I use my patio for that type of thinking often and even consider it an alternative office. That said, I can really make a big mess; I can't stand to leave it that way.
I think talking about "creativity" is interesting. How do you even define it? For example, my husband is a very neat and tidy person. And he can look at just about any physical thing and figure out a way to make it work better. He'll repurpose it, redesign it, add something, take something off--it happens without him even being aware of it. He has a vast supply of miscellaneous "parts" that, frankly kind of scare me. I don't ask questions. Needless to say he can fix just about anything, saving us many thousands of dollars over the years. I find this phenomenally creative, yet incredibly practical.
And there's a limit here. Years ago he hung a long tool holder on the garage wall. To my eye, it looked like it sloped down about 6 inches from left to right. To HIM it was great--because he had used a level and it was perfectly level (the garage ceiling wasn't). So that's where I come in--sanity check on "perfection".
For those of you who may be married to a person like my husband, you've already recognized I've got an engineer.
Probably wouldn't fit the standard definition of a creative person, but he sure fits mine!
I hate working in a messy environment. And if I need to stimulate my creative side, I don't sit at my desk. I either go outside or to another environment completely. I use my patio for that type of thinking often and even consider it an alternative office. That said, I can really make a big mess; I can't stand to leave it that way.
I think talking about "creativity" is interesting. How do you even define it? For example, my husband is a very neat and tidy person. And he can look at just about any physical thing and figure out a way to make it work better. He'll repurpose it, redesign it, add something, take something off--it happens without him even being aware of it. He has a vast supply of miscellaneous "parts" that, frankly kind of scare me. I don't ask questions. Needless to say he can fix just about anything, saving us many thousands of dollars over the years. I find this phenomenally creative, yet incredibly practical.
And there's a limit here. Years ago he hung a long tool holder on the garage wall. To my eye, it looked like it sloped down about 6 inches from left to right. To HIM it was great--because he had used a level and it was perfectly level (the garage ceiling wasn't). So that's where I come in--sanity check on "perfection".
For those of you who may be married to a person like my husband, you've already recognized I've got an engineer.
Probably wouldn't fit the standard definition of a creative person, but he sure fits mine!
GTDmw
Registered
Meaning in the mess?
In addition to David's response, my question for the researcher would be around the buried meaning in the mess.
"Forty-eight research subjects came individually to our laboratory, again assigned to messy or tidy rooms. This time, we told subjects to imagine that a Ping-Pong ball factory needed to think of new uses for Ping-Pong balls, and to write down as many ideas as they could. We had independent judges rate the subjects’ answers for degree of creativity, which can be done reliably. Answers rated low in creativity included using Ping-Pong balls for beer pong (a party game that in fact uses Ping-Pong balls, hence the low rating on innovation). Answers rated high in creativity included using Ping-Pong balls as ice cube trays, and attaching them to chair legs to protect floors."
If there is no buried meaning in the mess, you are having a fun time romping through another's mess (Ooh, what is that? What is this? That reminds me of? This is cool!). This is quit invigorating. It could prime the pump for creativity. However if the mess holds reminders of open loops and broken commitments, my hypothesis is that creativity will suffer.
In addition to David's response, my question for the researcher would be around the buried meaning in the mess.
"Forty-eight research subjects came individually to our laboratory, again assigned to messy or tidy rooms. This time, we told subjects to imagine that a Ping-Pong ball factory needed to think of new uses for Ping-Pong balls, and to write down as many ideas as they could. We had independent judges rate the subjects’ answers for degree of creativity, which can be done reliably. Answers rated low in creativity included using Ping-Pong balls for beer pong (a party game that in fact uses Ping-Pong balls, hence the low rating on innovation). Answers rated high in creativity included using Ping-Pong balls as ice cube trays, and attaching them to chair legs to protect floors."
If there is no buried meaning in the mess, you are having a fun time romping through another's mess (Ooh, what is that? What is this? That reminds me of? This is cool!). This is quit invigorating. It could prime the pump for creativity. However if the mess holds reminders of open loops and broken commitments, my hypothesis is that creativity will suffer.
TesTeq
Registered
Permanent neatness + temporary messiness (as a collateral damage).
I like my permanent neatness + temporary messiness (as a collateral damage of the creative process) attitude.
Here is my ideal creative workflow:
kelstarrising;109970 said:
I like my permanent neatness + temporary messiness (as a collateral damage of the creative process) attitude.
Here is my ideal creative workflow:
- Before: my working environment is neat - every tool, reference information and supplies are in their place.
- During: I do creative work - my working environment becomes more and more messy because I am focused on work, not on putting things back in their places.
- After: I focus on tiding up my working environment to prepare it for a neat start next time.
TesTeq
Registered
Tools, reference information and supplies go to their beds.
You are right. It is my ideal creative workflow... ;-)
But I really try to tidy up my working environment at the end of each day. Tools, reference information and supplies go to their beds - they need enough sleep to be useful the next day.
ArcCaster;109992 said:TesTeq, you have just described my environment, with one exception -- my next projects start before the current ones finish, so typically I go straight from 'During' to 'During'
You are right. It is my ideal creative workflow... ;-)
But I really try to tidy up my working environment at the end of each day. Tools, reference information and supplies go to their beds - they need enough sleep to be useful the next day.
Oogiem
Registered
I sure can create a creative mess. My problem is cleaning up afterwards. Often because I know I will still be working on the same creative messy problem next day. My thinking is why waste time putting stuff away just to get it all out again the next day? esp when put away or get ready takes 20-30 minutes. That's nearly an hour of useful doing time lost to clean-up or get ready to work.
Now if I could just realize that sometimes I won't get back to it the next day, due to work as it arrives or scheduled stuff I forgot about until I looked at my calendar in the morning. In those cases I really should just go ahead and clean up after the session even though I'll be pulling it all in again. I often don't resulting in a serial collection of the residue of creative messes from projects partially completed. An archeologist would have a great time deducing my project status just by looking at how far down the pile a particular set of messes is.
Now if I could just realize that sometimes I won't get back to it the next day, due to work as it arrives or scheduled stuff I forgot about until I looked at my calendar in the morning. In those cases I really should just go ahead and clean up after the session even though I'll be pulling it all in again. I often don't resulting in a serial collection of the residue of creative messes from projects partially completed. An archeologist would have a great time deducing my project status just by looking at how far down the pile a particular set of messes is.