Creative Time first thing

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gpsmith

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Hi All

I was listening to one of David's podcasts the other day and he says he uses first thing in the morning to do his creative thinking, being that you're the freshest and most alert.

Great idea, other than the fact I work for a large international corporate and as soon as I'm in the office need to handle and respond by email or phone to my colleagues in China and India - I'm in the UK.

This means at best it's mid-morning before I've finished this then need to make sure my team are still on track, which takes me to lunch time. I'm then left with the afternoon (if there are no fires that need putting out) to do the creative stuff - which by then I'm tired and sluggish.

On face value it seems like I have no choice in the matter, short of getting in at 5am. Therefore, before I give up on the idea of being creative in the morning, I'd be interested in soliciting views from the forum members.

Many thanks,

G.
 
Is it possible?

Could you consider spending 15-30 minutes in the morning at home before you go to the office for creative thinking? If you are used to running around like a crazy person to get yourself and/or kids out the door, you might benefit from creating a "before bed" routine that streamlines some of the morning craziness. Examples might be check weather for tomorrow, pick out clothes for tomorrow, make the kid's lunches, etc. Anything to buy yourself a little extra time in the morning...and start your day a little calmer.
 
Thanks for your input. That could be possible, I'd have to really plan ahead like you suggest to make this time. Might be something to consider in a few months time though as with a four month old son in the house and my four year old, mornings are far from predictable.
 
Can only imagine

I never had kids personally, but I can well imagine that life is nutsy for you. Maybe the creative time belongs on a "someday/maybe" list for now.
 
5am is great for creative thinking!

gpsmith;56922 said:
On face value it seems like I have no choice in the matter, short of getting in at 5am.
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Great idea! I do it daily in my home. 5am is great for creative thinking!
 
Children sometimes can give us inspiration to creat. We should thank them.
 
gpsmith;56922 said:
Great idea, other than the fact I work for a large international corporate and as soon as I'm in the office need to handle and respond by email or phone to my colleagues in China and India - I'm in the UK.
Click to expand...

Think about each email or voicemail. Does each author demand that you answer the very minute you get in the door? Or could the answer come fifteen minutes after that? Honestly? How many emails are really so urgent that the response must come this second, instead of ten minutes from now?

I work in an environment with high-pressure emails. Personally, I've had no problems waiting until 9:30 to process emails instead of 9:00.
 
Brent;57032 said:
Think about each email or voicemail. Does each author demand that you answer the very minute you get in the door? Or could the answer come fifteen minutes after that? Honestly? How many emails are really so urgent that the response must come this second, instead of ten minutes from now?

I work in an environment with high-pressure emails. Personally, I've had no problems waiting until 9:30 to process emails instead of 9:00.
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But do you also deal with time differences? It sounds like the problem is the need to catch someone during the limited window when the original poster and the contact are both in the office. Miss that window, and you've effectively lost a full day.

One way to deal with time differences is to time shift. For instance, you might set aside time outside your normal work hours *exclusively* for these interactions. The risk is encroachment on your free time, so you would want to insist on grabbing that time back elsewhere. For instance, you might handle overseas clients before leaving home, then come into the office a bit later. (Incidentally shifting your commute to off-peak hours.)

Katherine
 
Coffee, anyone?

Any chance you could divert to an empty conference room or a local coffee house for 15-20 minutes before entering the firestorm at work? The thought being that if you have a place where you don't have the tug of your email and voicemail. And as the Creative Questioning guy (Michael Bungay Stanier, http://www.boxofcrayons.biz) pointed out, just physically changing location can make a difference in how and what you think.
 
It was years ago that I read that if you write in your journal first thing in the morning, you are more abstract. Later in the day, you write in more concrete terms. I applied this to my journal writing. First thing in the morning I would record my dreams, visions, goals, thoughts. Any journal entries later in the day became more of a log.
 
Creative time doesn't have to be first thing. I, for instance, have it as last thing. In the evening 22h - 0h I get my high. It really depends on when you have your best time. Biorythm et al Everyone is unique.
 
Creative time could be anytime. It doesn't depend on the time of the day. So keep your UCT with you if you suddenly understand that you're in a creative mode :)
 
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