Why I Don’t Schedule Creativity (Anymore)

I was recently flipping through a book about creative entrepreneurship, and stopped on a page titled ‘finding time to make art’. The first point on the page said: Schedule Time. I felt a pit in my stomach and closed the book.

At that moment I was sitting on a ferry crossing the Strait of Georgia. Struck by the expansiveness of the ocean and mountains around me, I wondered why we feel the need to restrict and control our creativity in this way. What problem are we trying to fix by forcing our creativity into a schedule?

Perhaps – maybe obviously - the problem is that we’re not currently allowing ourselves time to create. Maybe we prioritize other tasks, procrastinate with busy work, and even feel selfish or undeserving when we do spend time on our art. Perhaps scheduling creativity is more about a desire to control our emotions around our creativity.

But are we suffocating our creativity by trying to control it?

I haven’t been immune to all the advice out there that tells us to put creative time on our calendars. I’ve tried, and failed, to include my creative practice as an item on a to-do list. But what I’ve realized is that creativity isn’t a to-do item. It’s something that I get to do. And that difference is everything.

My creativity is something that I want to be excited about and get lost in, something that’s led by inspiration and curiosity rather than fear and insecurity. When I tried to schedule creativity, it became a chore to complete. It also kept me focussed on a perfectionist productive version of myself rather than allowing myself to play in the present.  

I think scheduling creativity also limits what we classify as a creative task. Some of my best creative ideas come to me while walking along the ocean or staring out the window. Things that I probably wouldn’t be doing if I’d scheduled time on my calendar. 

So if we don’t schedule creativity, what’s the alternative?

Well, some things I’ve been trying include loosening my grip on my creative practice. Taking the pressure off by tuning in to my own rhythms and fluctuations in creative energy. Leaning in when ideas are flowing, resting and refreshing when they’re not. I’ve also been meeting my insecurities with empathy, resisting the need to control them, and slowly building trust in myself.

It might be a more difficult path to take, at least in the short term, but I have a hunch that it’ll be worth it.