In creative work, speed is good

Last week I wrote about how to schedule a creative day.

In a nutshell, you divide your day into two distinct parts: a few dedicated hours for creative work and the rest for routine tasks.

This week I want to zoom in on the creative part of your day. How can you get all you can out of this small pocket of time?

Simple: you work fast.

Protect your flow

When creating, you’re in what’s called a flow state. This is a mental zone where you are fully immersed, focused, and productive. In the flow state, speed is good. Things that slow you down and make you fiddle, take you out of that speed, take you out of flow. 

Now by “speed” I don’t mean manic speed. I don’t mean sprinting. Think of it more like a steady, controlled run—focused and purposeful, yet sustainable over time.

Things that break speed, break flow. Whenever a slow, difficult task pops up, bump it to your regular work hours if you can. 

• Tough finicky bit? Bump it to regular work hours.

• Need to tediously organize something? Bump it.

• Mindless chore? Bump it.

What if that slow, difficult task actually is creative work? Well, buckle up and do it. But most of the time, tedious work is not creative. It’s just monotonous or painstaking.

Flow doesn’t return easily

You only get a few hours of creative per day—at most. The flow state is fragile and once disrupted, it can be hard to get back into it. Protect that creative time and only work on creative tasks.

Your creative time is precious—use it wisely. By working with controlled speed and protecting your flow, you can get more done.

However, there is one exception to all this. I’ll discuss that next week.