Why Less Time is a Good Thing

"I'm soooooo BUSY!"

"There's not enough time in the day."

"If I had all the time in the world..."

The tech revolution has helped us do more things in less time, but surprisingly we still feel like time is our enemy. 

When people ask me why I'm not doing more of X, where X is something creative and energizing that I used to do more of when I was younger - writing fiction, drawing with charcoals, or playing the violin - I've answered with these excuses.

I've blamed Time like she's the problem. But the thing about Time is she's consistent. She does not change. I'm the one who needs to change. I'm the problem. 

How to be friends with Time again to get back in touch with our creative selves?

First, accept that you don't need more time - you need less of it. Using time as a constraint for a creative challenge pushes you to think less and when you think less good things happen.

Instinct kicks in. You go with your gut. You trust your ideas (and your colleagues' too). You stop judging your ideas (and your colleagues' too!). You ACT. You DO.  

Many of my exercises with groups or by myself involve a challenge with a time limit. Sometimes we attack that same challenge with half that time. Then half again. 

When you suspend judgement you come up with creative solutions that have real potential. You realize that the ideas you generated in five minutes are far better than the ideas you would have come up with after an hour.

What will you do with your gift of 55 minutes? 

Next time you need to get into a creative mindset time yourself. Give yourself less time than you think you need. Then half it.

Ready. Set. Go!