How I get into creative flow quickly, with limited time.

Note: I wrote this piece a few months ago over on my website laikinstudio.com but revisited it recently to help myself and thought it may be helpful to another new parent and creative/freelancer out there.

I’m not a fan of the cult of productivity, yet I’m constantly attracted to it.

Being productive does matter to me, but I do think anyone with a creative process knows the outcomes will still vary even following the same prescription of productivity for each person. Productivity is also very linked with capitalism, and the idea that we all must create an ever-increasing output as a moral imperative. Instead of concentrating on how we do things better, we focus on how we can do things faster, how we can produce more. The more productive you are, the more output, the more output the more productive growth. Capitalist systems rely on this harmful cycle and it is ruining our planet. So you can see why I feel nervous or wary of the productivity cult, even when it’s so irresistible in today’s times.

Instead, what truly matters to me is being able to get into the state of flow, quickly. Flow is a state that is less about output, and more about process. If productivity is about the product (the outcome) flow is about the experience. It is through the experience that we grow and get better, not through the product.

Finding time to create as a young parent or any kind of caregiver is difficult. So much of your energy and thought is put into other…