When I am in the creative zone, I always wish I had more time. The muse can be so elusive that when she does turn up, I want to make the most of it. That’s where time-saving habits come in.
Repetition creates speed
The more you do something the quicker you can do it. Doing the same thing, the same creative processes and practices mean you can complete that particular task quicker. When I started out playing the guitar, changing from one chord to another took time. Now, even when I am learning a new chord shape, I am able to jump from chord to chord with ease. It’s why musician practice scales. It’s why artists doodle. Touch-typing can help writers, even if their first draft is on pen and paper.
Systems reduce thinking
Templates, a set colour palette or your favourite pen and journal are examples of systems. You can put them in place, before you create. The less time and energy you spend thinking means more time and energy creating. Think about systems you can set up to ease your creative workflow.
Preparation beats correction
Having your bits and pieces ready means you don’t have to fumble around sorting them out when the muse turns up. If you have these bits ready it will save time when you realise you’re missing something or you are using the wrong tool. I have lost countless minutes, that amount to hours, because my Logic music template wasn’t set-up correctly. It is easy to forget how to do certain creative tasks, especially with complex software. The more you can bake into a template or into muscle memory, the less time spent asking your search engine, or A.I. assistant for help.
Small gains compound
In short sporting events, like the 100m, the tiniest improvement in starting a race can make a big difference. It is similar in our creative workflow.
Keyboard shortcuts need to be learnt. I noticed time and again I wanted to do the same thing and couldn’t remember how to do it. Keyboard shortcuts are probably the single most effective time saving habit I have and use. Knowing that cmd+c is copy might be second nature to you, but what about forced legato in Logic Pro (shift + backslash), or create clipping mask in Photoshop (option + cmd + G). For me, these and other keyboard shortcuts save me so much time.
Habits beat hacks
A hack is a shortcut to a goal, a hack is a one off event, a hack is really a way to cheat. A habit is something that you can use all the time. I know this is playing with semantics, but the point is, if you can ingrain something into your creative being, so much that it is a habit, then you don’t need to think about it. Bad habits waste so much time, creative habits enable us to save time, and spend that precious resource wisely. We don’t want to think, we want to create.
Creative habits can be tiny. Tiny creative habits can have a huge impact on our creativity.
What are your creative habits?
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