Routines and Creativity

Routines and Creativity

The early bird catches the worm...but the second mouse gets the cheese.

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The First Five Minutes

Emil will guide you through one of his favorite exercises.

Today we're going to talk about routines and healthy habits for creativity.

To do this, let's have some fun with a few questions...

Multiple Select

Routines are beneficial because... (Select all that apply).

• The can reduce stress.

• They allow certain processes to become automatic.

• They help you predict how long it takes to do something...

  and the best time to do it.

• The can increase your productivity.

• Oprah says so.

Your brain likes habits because they're efficient. When you automate common actions, you free up mental resources for other tasks.

Efficient

The predictability of routines is calming, leading to a reduction in stress and anxiety. They also help you to predict how long tasks take you, leaving more time for things you enjoy.

Predictable

Routines can help you understand how long it takes for you to do something and help you tap into your naturally productive times.

​​Helpful

Routines can help you get your recurring tasks done with less time and effort.

..

​​Productive

​All of the above, and more.

Multiple Choice

Barack Obama wore the same suit every day. Why?

(Choose the best answer).

• Because it was a really nice suit.

• To save time and energy on decision-making.

• Because it was a gift from Michelle and he wanted to show her how much he liked it.

• Hey, it's better that than pajamas.

We're faced with an average of 35,000 choices a day. This is tiring. We also all have a limited working memory capacity, so the more tasks that can be automated, the higher capacity we have to learn new things or make more important decisions.

.

(Like which shoes to wear with the suit).

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Save time and energy: Prevent decision fatigue.

Multiple Choice

How can routines benefit creativity?

• They can help you make space for creative endeavors.

• They can help you enter the trance-like state of Flow.

• They provide the structure and predictability needed to ground creative ideas.

• All of the above.

​The best way to safeguard precious time for deep or creative work is to ensure you have dedicated blocks of time free of distraction and under the best possible conditions.

You need blocks of undistracted time to create.

This not only benefits your overall health and well-being, but can also be harnessed into your creative practice or work.

​​Routines can help provide your triggers and conditions for Flow.

​Routines can help creatives ensure they have a dedicated an predictable space to work, which can also be very grounding. As Haruki Murakami said, "The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism."

​​Structure, predictability, grounding, and mesmerism.

​All of the above.

Multiple Choice

The best and most productive time to get things done is in the morning.

• YES! That's why school starts early and tests are always in the morning.

• Probably. The sun's up, isn't it?

• No way. It'd be better if we all waited a few hours.

• It is if you're a morning person.

-We're all wired differently and have different chronotypes, or circadium rhythms. These can change over our lifetimes.
-A person's chronotype lies on a contimum between morning and evening.
-The common work and school day favors those who are most active in the mornings. But studies have found that "night owls" have lower resting brain connectivity in the mornings. This means: poorer attention, slower reactions, muscle weakness, and increased sleepiness.

Society runs on mornings... even if this isn't everyone's most productive time.

It is if you're a morning type.

-There are several different types of chronotypes, or patterns in people's circadian rhythms.

-A person’s chronotype lies on a continuum between morning and evening. Researchers generally distinguish between "mornings types," "evenings types," and those who are "neither."

-About 60% of the population is neither a morning nor evening type - they fall somewhere in the middle. About 20% of the population is either a morning type or evening type, respectively.

-This can change over our lifetime - teens are more likely to be evening types, and the elderly and more likely to be morning types.

Multiple Select

Alright. So there may not be a difference when it comes to creativity.

Why does knowing your chronotype matter?

(Select all that apply).

• It can help you find your most creative times.

• It's a nice productivity hack.

• You can stop trying to live up to impossible ideals and accept yourself as you are.

• You can discover the best times of day for you to do certain activities - and therefore make them more enjoyable.

• Quality of life, baby.

Understanding chronotypes and knowing how you function can help you improve your quality of life in many ways and help you to truly harness the best times for creative work.

​

​All of the above.

Multiple Choice

The best time to be creative...

• Depends on your chronotype.

• Depends on the phase of the creative process you're in.

• Depends on the activity you're doing.

• All of the above.

Morning types tend to be more creative in the mornings, while evening types tend to be more creative in the evenings.

​​It depends on your chronotype

Your most alert time may not be your most creative one

​Being creative at the right time for you can impact your happiness and your perception of the quality of your work.

The time matters.

When you're at your sharpest or when you're in your best mood may not be the best time to create. (Think: theta brainwaves and turning off the critical part of your brain, for instance).

Historically, evening types ("night owls") often demonstrate a higher aptitude for divergent thinking. Many studies support this.

However, other studies have found little significant correlation.

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​Chronotypes and Creativity

Knowing the optimal times for you to perform certain activities can help you maximize your creative process.

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​The Creative Process and Your Routine

​Your most optimistic time of day is often the best time to do divergent thinking.

​...but so are the moments when you're feeling drowsy (we'll discover why in a later class).

​The best time for you to get work done is whenever it's easiest for you to focus.

​It's all a matter of discover what works best for YOU and designing your life around it (as best you can). Wear your hats wisely.

Multiple Choice

True or false?

People who menstruate experience fluctuations in their creativity throughout their menstrual cycles.

• True

• False

Cut for Time
(& Old Materials)

Poll

When it comes to routines, I...

• Love them.

  In fact, it's 13:37 and time for my snack.

• Struggle with them like rolling a boulder up a hill.

• Would really like to improve my routine.

• Believe they're restrictive and stifle my natural instincts.

  CREATIVITY!

​Whether or not you thrive on a strict routine depends on your personality. Strict routines are not for everyone.

Even if you struggle with routines, identifying certain patterns and using them to achieve your goals is possible.

Anyone and everyone can improve their routine and enjoy the benefits.

​Even creativity (and rebellion) thrive on routines.

​Some notes on routines...

​The idea of a routine may seem too "rigid" to support creativity, but it's all about finding balance and understanding how you work best. Showing up at more or less the same time every day (or after the same trigger) for the same sort of activity tends to be incredibly beneficial for creative practices - we can see this in the routines of Big C creatives.

The challenge is navigating between repetition and spontaneity.

Multiple Choice

How many times per day does the average person check their email

(on average)?

• 15 times.

• 3 times.

• 77 times.

• Once.

The average person checks their email about 15 times per day, and some workers check it up to 77 times a day. But a recent study from researchers at the University of British Columbia found that when people were limited to checking their email just three times per day, their stress levels decreased significantly.

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​15. It's a lot.

Share your research with your neighbor.

-Why did you chose this person?

What about their routine do you find interesting or inspiring?

-Together, find common trends or patterns in your researched routines.

Be prepared to share with the class.

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​Big C Routines: What Did You Discover?

​Big C Routines:
Common Trends

Multiple Select

True or false?

In order to be successful, you need a disciplined morning routine.

• True.

• False.

• Not necessarily, but it can't hurt.

Just because a Big C does it, doesn't mean we all need to, too. The key is learning what works best for you. And remember: "free time" and not having a routine may also be a healthy form of routine. That said, mornings routines tend to be beneficial for setting the tone of the day.

​

​Morning routines can be helpful but there are as many morning routines are there are people.

-Mornings types and evening types differ in their melatonin profile - the hormone that induces sleepiness.

-They also differ in sleep–wake timing and mental–physical activation over a 24-h period.

-Chronotype can also influence attitudes, lifestyle, cognitive function, athletic performance, and personality traits.

-Knowing and understanding your chronotype can help you to optimize your productivity...and creativity.

​​Morning Birds vs. Night Owls

Multiple Choice

Most scientific research distinguishes between "morning types" and "evening types." Which type do you think is more creative?

• Morning types!

• Neither. Did you say there was a middle ground?

• Evening types, for sure.

• The answer seems to depend on the study.

What's your chronotype?

While the real scientific research only identifies two basic "types" and a large middle ground, there's a rather fun and interesting trend to classify people into four different types. Let's take a survey to find yours.

GOOGLE: "Sleep Chronotype Quiz: What Is My Chronotype?" Psych Central and take the quiz.

Poll

What's your chronotype animal?

• I'm a lion,

  hear me roar.

• I'm a bear,

  so bear with me.

• I'm a dolphin -

  catch you on the flip side.

• I'm a wolf, howling at the moon.

1. To wake up in the morning.

2. To eat your meals.

3. To exercise.

4. To do mindless chores.

5. To do demanding cognitive work.

6. To be creative.

Find your flock, and tell me the best time(s) for you...

-Using what you've learned about the artistic creative process, outline the steps required for you to complete your project.
- Do this in whatever way works best for you (a Word doc, a sketch, a chronogram, a mind map, etc.). See Aula Global for Guidelines.

-Turn in evidence of your plan in Aula Global by Monday, January 29th before class.

-Complete a journal entry.

Our next class will be in room 13.102.

​Homework