Unnatural Acts

My life is full of unnatural acts.  Some I've written of before, like going to bed at 10 p.m. so that I can get up at 5:20, both very unnatural for me. 

I've been in a writing frenzy over the last two days, and as I finished today, I observed something about my work flow.  Each of the last two days, I sat down to write when I was ready.  I didn't actually mark the time, but I know what time it was when I was eating not much before embarking on my writing journey.  Much of the time when I write I am so in the flow that I don't stop for anything--eating, drinking, or bathroom breaks.  We might say that for me, writing is a out-of-body-experience because I lose touch with my body.

The words have tumbled out of me both days, and I now approach 10,000 worlds.

Each time I've written books a similar pattern has occurred. When I am ready, I sit and write, and I lose touch with all else.  Each of the last two days, I've been finished after about five hours.  I use the word "finished" carefully, I am finished--there is no creativity left. One minute I was flowing and the next I'm done.  As I reflect on earlier writing adventures, I recall many of them ended at five or six hours.  Occasionally, I'd write for seven, and once when working on The Game Called Life, I was astounded to discover I'd been writing without break for 13 hours!  However long it is, I am always shocked when I look at a clock at how much time has passed.

It seems clear to me that when I am most productive is when I am in the flow...and, then there is nothing.  Afterward, I renew myself. Yesterday I took a nap and watched a movie before going dancing--things that restore me.  Today, I grabbed a few minutes of a near-60-degree day for a walk and then spent some time playing in the kitchen--a totally different kind of creativity for me.

The unnatural part is what I would be doing if this were a regular work day.  No matter how productive I might have been in five hours, I would still be expected to be at work for another four to four-and-a-half hours.  I would find useful things to do, but not things that require creativity.  So almost every day, I force myself through a few hours at the office that are suboptimal.  This is very unnatural. I am exhausted by the artificiality of the activity. In my normal flow, I would do something that would restore me after spending my creativity.  That is not how our modern workplaces work.

Sadly so, since "A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 "leadership competency" of the future."* We could and should be doing more to make our workplaces creativity friendly.

I notice something else about the last two days.  Even though I've produced a lot and am spent creatively, I have energy for life at the end of the day.  Most days I return from the office so tired that I can hardly make dinner, lunch for the next day and coffee for the next morning before nearly collapsing of exhaustion.  Following my natural creative cycle gives me energy instead of stealing it from me. 

A colleague of mine says we shouldn't raise problems unless we have a solution.  I wish I had an answer, but I do believe it is important to raise questions even if, and perhaps because, we have no answers. 

*Please note: If you read this posting a bit earlier, I mistakenly reported on lagging creativity scores, implying that they were lagging among the general population in the US.  I should have clarified that sagging scores are among children.  Upon discovering my misstatement, I have removed the error and replaced it.