Consistency and Variability As Contexts for Creativity

Reflecting upon recent changes in the structure of my days and weeks has provided several insights that inform my understanding of how to cultivate and manifest creative potential. When I began to consider how my time was structured, I was immediately drawn to make comparisons between this year and last. The primary insight that I received from this consideration was that my time is now less consistently apportioned, and that this has resulted in more opportunities for creative synthesis, but less lengthy or regular intervals. This year I am enrolled in a full course-load at HSPH and MIT, working for one startup firm, consulting with another, and volunteering occasionally at a local Harm Reduction program. Last year I was working a 9-5 schedule at my job of eight years and spending evenings engaged in social and artistic pursuits. This year my schedule is characterized by considerable difference between and punctuation within days, whereas last year my schedule was characterized by the consistency of a standard 5-day work week and the clear differentiation between time spent in professional pursuits and time spent in personal ones. Consider these two weeks, one year apart, as representative of the change in the structure of my time.

Where I used to enjoy anticipated and uninterrupted opportunities to exercise, craft, socialize and attend to domestic affairs, I now find each day and week to be segmented uniquely, with leisure, domestic and creative activities interspersed between inconsistent scheduled events. I realize now that I have much more unstructured time than before, but that there are more competing uses for each unplanned moment. In retrospect, I also recognize the value in what had seemed like monotony, understanding that consistent constraints provided consistent release. From the perspective of optimized creativity, I cannot say yet whether one is superior to the other. I found it easier to commit and delve deeply into long-term tasks with a more routine schedule, but I find that I am able to sprint and surprise myself with a more variable schedule. Weighing the two, I am realizing that I prefer the current one, where punctuation provides frequent points for reflection, synthesis and agility. By understanding an embracing this difference, I feel that I am better able to recognize and seize creative opportunity, and to understand that my way of being is in a process of adaptation to a new structure and context.