One last post (for now) about design thinking. This one considers how to apply the design thinking method and mindset to design a happy, creative life. No matter your age, current creative endeavors, or general life satisfaction, you are at a place and time to change your life for the better. It's as simple as intentionally defining what your good life looks like, deciding how to make it happen, and then trying stuff out. Keep going until you reach your goal. Then get ready to do it all over again because your goals and intentions will change.
Empathize...with yourself
Self-reflection time. Here are a couple of activities to help you understand where you are relative to the creative life you want to live.
If you don't know already, name the values that matter most to you. if you haven't done this kind of exercise before, try this one. I look at values as guides to help you make decisions. For example, if you value health then deciding between the cookies or the carrots becomes easy. (Easier?) Knowing your values will also help you understand why creativity is important to you or how you can use your creativity to impact what you value. While creativity itself is one value that matters most to me, I don't think it's a requirement to live a more creative life.
Think about your day-to-day life now. Identify the things that make you happy or when it's easiest for you to find flow. Also, identify the things you dread or that get in the way of what you love doing. It works well to keep a journal of how you spend your time for about a week. Document what you do and how long you do it and then use a simple system to rate how much you enjoy (or dread) doing all the things.
Write a summary or story about your perfect day. For this exercise, act as if you don't need to worry about money and you don't care about what anyone thinks about what you choose to do with your time.
Define your problem
Using what you learned from empathizing with yourself, write down up to 10 things you would describe as problems interfering with your fulfilling creative life. It can be big (like your full-time job) or small (like not enough yarn).
Of the list of problems, cross off the ones that you're not willing to do anything about. For example, my full-time job definitely takes time away from me that I'd rather spend creating or working on my creative business. But I'm not going to quit my job right now so it's not a problem worth trying to solve.
Of the remaining problems on your list, rate each as "easy," "medium," or "hard" to solve.
Choose one problem to work on now. You can come back to others later. Go with an easy one if you're low on energy, a harder one if you're ready for a strong effort.
Reframe the problem statement as a design question or a "How might we (I)" statement. For example, if you've identified the problem of not having enough time/ energy to spend on creative activities, your statement could be, "How might I find more time/ energy for creativity?"
Ideate opportunities
Now, write down as many solutions you can think of for the problem statement. (Post-it notes work great for this--one idea per note.)
Give yourself 10 minutes. The key is to write down EVERYTHING you can think of. Do not judge, just write. At this point, there are no bad ideas. Wild and crazy ideas are encouraged.
When you have a bunch of ideas, start narrowing down and/or combining ideas into one good one that you can commit to.
Don't discard the ideas you didn't choose--you might want them later.
Prototype a change
Prototyping is your opportunity to play around with your idea to see how you can make it happen, find out if you need to modify it, or realize you need to go back to the ideation step. Prototyping a life change might be as simple as writing down an exact plan or schedule, taking a class to learn more about your idea, or talking to someone who has first-hand experience about what you want to change. You're trying to find out if your great idea is achievable without going all in.
For example, let's say the change you want to make is to get up at 5:00 a.m. so that you have an extra hour each morning to dedicate to making art. What will this look like for you? What barriers or challenges will you face? How will you overcome the barriers? Write down a plan and action steps so that you know exactly how you want the change to go. Something like this...
The alarm goes off at 5:00. I'm still tired and it feels so good in my warm bed. I look at my nightstand and see the inspirational quote I put there to encourage me to do the hard things to live the creative life I desire. Then I use Mel Robbins's rule of counting down: 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 and hop out of bed. I do my morning wake-up ritual (pee, wash hands and face, mouthwash, eye drops) and put on the clothes I set out the night before. I go to the kitchen, start the coffee, drink a glass of water, and sit down at the table with a fully charged laptop ready for me to use. I look at the note I made earlier in the week that lists the creative acts I want to accomplish this week and get focused on the most important thing of the day. I pour a cup of coffee, set a timer for 25 minutes, and sit down to do the work until the timer goes off. I pour another cup of coffee, set another 25-minute timer, and do the work some more. When the timer goes off again, I smile knowing that I am making my creative life happen. Now, more coffee.
That's a pretty accurate representation of the prototype I wrote a few months ago. I've modified it some (the countdown thing didn't work so well for me) and I'm certainly not hitting this mark every single day, but I am definitely more consistent and intentional about writing and creating in the morning. The details in the plan/story are important.
Another example I can share...I decided I wanted to use handmade paper for my hand-carved block prints. I got a how-to book to learn about how to make paper and when I prototyped the paper-making space and process I decided to put that very messy idea back on the shelf. Instead, I support paper-making artists by purchasing paper from them.
Prototyping a creative life change can also be simply talking to a person who is doing the thing you want to do. Check in with someone you follow on Instagram or who has a blog or a podcast you enjoy. Find out the difference between what you imagine the change might look like and what it really looks like in practice. Then you can decide if and how to move forward.
Test and iterate
The final step is called "testing" because you never stop trying things out and learning. There's never really a "final" step. You'll modify your habits and routines and practices over time. You'll make them better or you'll stop doing them and move on to other things. Living a creative life means constant curiosity, experimentation, change, and growth.
The key
To quote Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus as seen in What About Bob, the key is "baby steps." Small changes will move you forward. Have a bias toward action. Do something, do it a little differently, then do another thing. Remember that part of having a fulfilling, creative life is the journey that gets you there. It's not about speed, it's about joy.
Resources
These are my favorite books about design thinking life and Mel's 5-Second Rule, in case you're interested (paid links).
Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Design the Life You Love: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Meaningful Future by Ayse Birsel
The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage by Mel Robbins
Comments