Riding in the Backseat: Designing a Routine for Creative Practice
Hi! Happy Friday!
I have really been looking forward to the weekend this week. There has been a very real feeling of stress on the “more is more” note at work. Which brought me to what I’m writing about today.
Advice on increasing your productivity seems to be everywhere. I cannot escape it. The constant societal drive to always be producing more is a large chunk of the reason why I have all but abandoned social media. There’s an ominous cloud threatening you to create more content or else… Do you know what a good way for me to be more productive is? Not the advice that the “guru” on social media gives. No. It’s the way the deluge of advice keeps me off of social media. I can’t stand the pressure, so I essentially opt out. How can you be more productive? Do this, do that, use this scheduling app, put your tasks in these boxes, work for this amount of time on any project, or a seemingly infinite number of other “proven” strategies. I truly am not concerned with more at this point. Quantity of output is of minimal concern. I’m focused on the process and quality. And that serves me much better. (It serves all of us much better, but I’ll save that theory for another day.)
This post is not going to be me telling you the best way to be more productive. But I am going to share my strategy for lightening my mental load and in doing that, giving my creative drive (quality of ideas) a boost. Flaubert sums it up:
“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
Routine is not the ultimate nemesis of creative thinking.
After quite a few years of being self-employed, I know I need a day-to-day routine to get anything accomplished. That’s a given. Not necessarily to be my most productive self, but to be my most innovative self. There was a time when I thought a schedule was the anti-thesis of creativity. But I quickly discovered I was wrong.
A schedule that someone else makes for you is quite a downer for sure, because there’s a very real probability that the administration or otherwise authoritative voice setting that schedule has no regard for what optimizes you as an individual. (Check out this comparison of how some of the notable creative minds in history organized their days. Spoiler alert: They are all different.) However, having a routine frees up my mind space from the weight of deciding what I need to do next. It’s also a significant factor in mitigating my anxiety, which might be the key benefit in terms of enabling my creative process.
When you’re a kid in school, you don’t have much choice as far as how you spend your days, but as an adult in charge of your own life, you get to pick what you want to be an unwavering element in your day to day. What gives you the most security and comfort knowing it won’t change for you the next day and the day after that, at the same time and place? Whatever it is (your gym, your happy hour bar, your sketchbook lunch break at the park, etc.) that you know you can rely on to be there and depend on for its clarity and reassurance kind of gives your brain a small sense of hypnotism. I find it smooths my way into a flow state. It always takes me a bit to get there, but the routine factor undoubtedly helps.
If you’re looking for inspiration, you can use my routine as a springboard.
You may find this to be ridiculously detailed, but they are details that are important to me (i.e. having a tidy living space). You will have other details that are important to you. I only mean to point it out that my specific example won’t work for everyone.
Note: If you read this list like John Grogan narrating a montage from Marley & Me, you have the right tone:
Morning (5:30am): Wake up. Brush Teeth. Open window blinds. Fold the messy blankets from last night’s TV time on the sofa. Go for a run (or walk if I feel lazy) outside. Journal/To-Do list. Make coffee for myself and Kevin. 30 minutes of yoga. Drink coffee with Kevin. Make lunch for Schuyler. Wake Schuyler (however many times as necessary). Make breakfast for Schuyler. Smoothie or Cheerios, usually. Make beds. Get dressed. Drive Schuyler to school. Shower. Eat breakfast. Granola or Cheerios, usually. (We love Cheerios; no this is not sponsored by Cheerios.)
Afternoon (11am-5pm): Emails & social media posts (IG, Mastodon, Notes). Studio time (art, photography, editing) or (on Fridays), network maintenance like coffees/gallery/museum/bookstores.
Dinner (5:15pm) Schuyler arrives home on the bus. We chat about the day and then read independently for 30 minutes. Schuyler plays video games while I make dinner. Eat dinner. Clean kitchen. After dinner, we go for a walk, write, or draw together. If Kevin is home early, we play cards or board games.
Night (8:30-10pm) Close window blinds. Clean up. Schuyler shower/pj routine. Brush teeth. Half hour of Spanish on Duolingo. Half hour read aloud.
Bedtime (10:30-11:30pm) Watch an episode with Kevin. ZZZZ
Riding in the Backseat
Whewwwww… That is a lot of stuff. That I do on autopilot. That I don’t have to actively think about at all. I consider it like when I was a kid riding in the backseat on a road trip. The lull of the wind, the whoosh of rapidly passing scenery, and the fact that I didn’t have to navigate where I was going made it so easy for me to draw and write and just come up with all sorts of ideas -or take a nap and wander around in my subconscious. You probably have a similar memory of your own. Designing a routine is my way of emulating that visionary environment and mindset.
“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”
CHARLES DICKENS
We won’t pretend everything always goes according to plan or that we never need to take control or make changes, but we can do the best we can with what we have.
What kinds of things do you include in your day-to-day, even if not quite regularly? Or maybe there are things you are trying to make into habits? Like making pancakes on Sunday mornings? Drinking 3 bottles of water per day? Anything to contribute to a regular cycle. I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments.
-Megan
P.s. Thanks for reading Range Creative and supporting my work! I’ll see you on Monday with some pictures of a photo book I love and some context around how I came to revisit it.
What kinds of things do you include in your day-to-day, even if not quite regularly? Or maybe there are things you are trying to make into habits? Like making pancakes on Sunday mornings? Drinking 3 bottles of water per day? Anything to contribute to a regular cycle. I’d love to know your thoughts!