Unlock Creative Flow in 10 Minutes: Combatting Tech’s Constant Innovation Pressure

Creativity when you are going fast, Faster and FASTER

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The press for more and more in the tech world is the ever-moving grind.

Think outside the box - 1, 2,3, GO!

I've heard the phrase "bring me solutions, not problems" in some form countless times on large conference calls. 

This is easier said than done, especially if you and your team are pressured to produce.

Problem-solving is not just in the numbers alone but takes a knack for creativity.

You can unlock this creativity in 10 minutes or less, even in a crunch.

Keep reading how…

Why Your Brain Needs a Break: The Science Behind Stepping Away

I was stumped. I got up, walked for 7 minutes, and then approached the code I was trying to make work. It flowed out. How?

There is science behind this. This Psychology Today article discusses how just 10 minutes of rest can reduce stress and improve cognitive function. Even more impressive to me is this study published in Cambridge about how students who had a 10-minute rest for their minds were able to come back and solve math problems twice as fast! Wow!

Alright, but how do you approach this in your life? You can get up and maybe take the walk like I did, but how do you carve out that time?

When you are asked for an answer and do not know it, say, "I will get back to you." Pre-emptively, in your week calendar, block out times for creative thought and catch-up work. Give yourself the time to do this.

Mindset-wise, it can be tough to avoid instant gratification. But think about this: If you cook rice or baking bread, would you rather have it half-cooked or entirely done and delicious? Probably the latter. Give your brain a break for better results later. Move out that Zoom call or skip it all together if you can.

Image Source: https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/21/this-is-your-brain-on-zoom/?guccounter=1

Stop Trying So Hard: How to Reboot Your Creative Mind

In middle school, I remember we had this wellness day, and a mindfulness coach gathered us in a circle and asked us, "Don't think about the tall green man standing behind you."

What happened? We all thought about the imaginary tall green mind standing behind us. A little bit creepy - yes! Effective - yes! The point of this exercise was that when we tried too hard to do something, it backfired.

The average human brain has about 6000 thoughts daily, even more by some estimates. Considering we are not even conscious of the total 24 hours of it, that is a lot. Sometimes, it is just too much. Just like a web browser that has 50 tabs open, it needs to shut down and restart to clear out the crap temporarily.

Reboot.

Your mind is like a computer, firing off thoughts and actions while your subconscious works in the background. 

You can close your eyes for a few minutes, even while sitting up straight. This blocks much of the sensory information we take in. It can be a meditation or not; it is still effective.

You can back away from the keyboard to get that other cup of coffee or top your water.

You can literally reboot your laptop, which will give you pause.

You can engage in purposeful procrastination. If you know what you are feeling and thinking, you are being emotionally intelligent. Put your mind to another purposeful activity before you can solve the bigger issue you are trying to solve creatively. You are procrastinating with purpose.

This solves the overload. Please don't overdo it. Self-awareness of what you are doing and why will take you far from breaking past your creativity's blockers.

Silencing the Inner Critic: Why Self-Compassion Fuels Fresh Ideas

If you are in tech, you have probably done those 5, 6, 7 round sets of interviews. It is not just interviews that are exhausting; it is the prep. A repetitive thread of advice I have read is to answer the question, "What are your weaknesses?" by saying, "I'm a perfectionist." It's cliche and sounds scripted as it is so popular.

The problem is that that is actually the truth. I grew up in a household that was quick to criticize and slow to praise (dysfunctional family anyone—Hi!).

With that, I have been my own worst critic many times. It impedes doing my best creative and innovative work. Why? Well, if I'm pissed off, that is going to erode my ability to think clearly.

We hear about being empathetic to others. Would you talk to your friend or spouse the way you criticize yourself? Well, maybe if you are a sh*tty person or passive-aggressive. But I am going to assume no if you like reading this Substack focused on empathy and emotional intelligence. Talk to yourself as you would to others you love. Emotionally intelligent and empathetic people will encourage those they love.

A practical way to do this is to remind myself of when things worked well. I think of a problem I was trying to solve and how I eventually resolved it, regardless of how impossible it felt. I relish that memory. It jump-starts the positive juices in my mind to tackle the current problem.

Remember, you got this. You did it before, and you can do it again.

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Your Creative Comeback Starts Now

A little over a year ago, I had a piece of code I was trying to figure out for a dashboard that puzzled me. The second piece was that once I got it working, I needed clarification on displaying the results to my non-data-oriented audience. It was 4:50 -  I could have sat staring at my screen pointlessly for creative insight, but I did not. I wrote my do list for the next day and decided to step away.

I thought about the problem before bed. Behold, my subconscious solved it in my sleep. I perked up out of bed at 3:33 a.m., scribbled what I figured would be the right formula on a post-it, and created a distorted but somewhat legible view of the future chart. I went back to bed.

The next morning, I looked at my chicken scratch and thought, "WTF?" But after squinting a bit, I tried it. The code mostly worked. The scribble chart looked glorious. The break worked to unlock my creativity.

I challenge you to take the 10 minutes away or more to rest your brain. Unlock your subconscious and deep knowledge. After all, our minds are like computers. If you have all the programs runnings at once, your RAM will be freaking out - time to reboot.

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✅ What I’ve been Analyzing this week (reading, watching, listening, etc.)

📖 I read this study from the National Library of Medicine on whether Empathy changes as we age

📺 I found this 2 minute meditation which is perfect for in between meetings that make me 😤

✍️ I commented on a post by Fabio Hiroki on The Chill Developer Substack about how to speak up at work, even if you are anxious about it

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