As some of you know my creative practice is an important part of my life. I am not able to get to my studio at the moment and while I have often made work at home too, I have found it harder to focus at the moment. Last week, I was reminded of an exercise I was introduced to a while back – make only three marks. They have to be different marks and can be any medium or colour but there can be only three of them. At first, I was horrified, but after a while I really enjoyed the liberation of not having to make too many choices. I am now making small paintings most mornings.
At the moment we are having to make lots of choices about our organisations and our teams, some of them are incredibly difficult. Too many choices can be paralysing so having some constraints can help us make better decisions and reduce our anxiety levels. I am now shopping in my local Co-op instead of the large local supermarkets, it is small, manageable and I have limited choice so I can get what I need quickly and comply with physical distancing.
Anyone who is following the Captain Tom story will see a tremendous tale of what can be achieved by embracing constraints! He’s just raised £5m pounds for the NHS charities by using a walker in his back garden. I confess to shedding a tear as it is announced. That’s not to say we should all aim for such a massive achievement, and it’s not where he started. Often, it’s the small things that make a difference.
Here’s some constraint exercises you might find helpful:
A story in six words you may know the famous Hemmingway example that is so incredibly moving:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn
An activity I often use, introduced to me by Jaz my amazing designer, a four-word story for your organisation. If you are having to rethink your vision it can be a very powerful way of really distilling the essence of what you do. As you will have seen mine is
Helping people navigate change.
Redacted stories. Anyone who knows Austin Kleon’s work will have seen how he takes existing texts and blacks them out to leave just a few words to create a new message. Be a bit irreverent, try it on your strategies or business plan!
List your current constraints (as an organisation or an individual). How have you adapted or managed them? What positive outcomes have you already achieved?
Impose your own constraints – set a timer to complete an activity, try the Pomodoro technique.
This one really made me gasp as someone who routinely has more than a dozen tabs open, limit yourself to one task and no more than one open tab until you’re finished.
One strategy I put in place is something I call single tab browsing. I would limit myself to only keep one browser tab open whenever I am working. That way I had to really prioritize what the most important task was that I had to work on. Buffer’s COO Leo Widrich
None of us have chosen to be where we are at the moment. It’s hard to stay focused, and it’s tiring to be dealing with everything we’ve got going on. Maybe these few simple ideas can help you smile or just try something out.
A while ago I started a book that I might now finish, the working title is ‘What to do with your business plan when no one is looking!’ It includes all sorts of activities to repurpose your business plan, it is one of my more mischievous ideas. I may post a few in coming weeks just to lighten the mood.
Whatever you do, be kind to yourself and do what you can, when you can.
Let us know how you are managing your constraints creatively.
Dawn & Susan