Category: Productivity

Sleep Your Way to Creativity And 9 More Surefire Methods For More Ideas

No, no, no! Not that kind of sleep. Real sleep. Cuz if you wanna dream, you gotta, you know, dream:

business-people-getting-ideas-2261033by Belle Beth Cooper

We’ve written about creativity a few times on the Buffer blog, but it’s hard to keep track of everything we learn about it. One day I’madjusting the temperature in my workspace, and the next I’m trying to put off creative work until I’m tired.

If you’re in the same boat, and you find it’s difficult to remember what will improve your creativity and when you should do your most creative work, hopefully this list will help you get it all straight. read article

Attaining Your Eureka Moment

You want one. You need one. You know that you do:

lightningstrikesby David Burkus

In the ancient world, the Greeks believed that all great insights came from one of nine muses, divine sisters who brought inspiration to mere mortals. In the modern world, few people still believe in the muses, but we all still love to hear stories of sudden inspiration. Like Newton and the apple, or Archimedes and the bathtub (both another type of myth), we’re eager to hear and to share stories about flashes of insight.

But for those who have to be creative on demand, these stories don’t offer much practical advice on how to have a eureka moment of their own. Long walks or hot showers may be where we think out best ideas come from, but those are hardly available options in the middle of a crowded workday. While research hasn’t exactly validated the existence of divine muses, it has given us some insight into how eureka moments happen…and how to make them happen more often. read article

Where Creatives Fall into Despair

Ooh, a pit! We love pits! Cuz…Edgar Allan Poe, y’know?

the-pit-and-the-pendulum1

The Pit of Discomfiture
Or, Where Creatives Fall into Despair
by Julie Zhuo

The last time I fell into the Pit was a week ago. read article

The Best Time to Write and Get Ideas

Cuz we all need some kind of edge:

writing-time

by Kevan Lee

What does your ideal day look like? Would you believe there’s a scientifically correct answer to the question? read article

Is Your Desk Messy? Maybe You’re a Genius

Or, you know, maybe not:

marktwainathisdeskFound at Busy Building Things

Einstein: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain. What is one thing these three visionaries have in common? read article