Clutter and Creativity

Yesterday, I got a lot of the clutter out of my study, and dealt with some mental clutter too, knocking off a few quick-win tasks.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised by the results. Maybe I should’ve actually listened to all the people who’ve told me that clutter (physical and mental) gets right in the way of creativity.

Because yesterday, I felt suddenly inspired to write fiction, for the first time in … quite a while. After several hectic weeks finishing a chunk of my novel to MA-dissertation standard, I was feeling pretty darn low on inspiration and pretty darn high on frustration.

Yet, I got the best part of a scene written. It wasn’t on my plan. I didn’t make myself sit down and do it. I don’t have any deadline whatsoever for this. I just felt like writing.

Somehow, the process of tidying broke down a growing block in my head. And this got me thinking about the relationship between clutter and creativity.

The Messy Desk Stereotype

Creativity and a certain messiness seem to go hand-in-hand. If you imagine a stereotypical “creative” person’s home, you’re probably thinking of lots of clutter, unwashed coffee mugs, a sort of creative chaos where amazing works of genius will emerge from the miasma of stuff.

Except, in practice, it doesn’t generally work that way. Most of us don’t come up with brilliant creative ideas out of all the clutter that’s lying around. Instead, we feel swamped by it. It’s like having a computer with a clogged-up hard-drive – you notice how slowly it loads up, or how difficult it is to run more than a few programs at a time.

Why Tidying Isn’t a Waste of Time

I often tell myself that clutter doesn’t matter. That I can shut my door on it all. That, even when the clutter is in my study, I can ignore it. After all, I just need enough elbow room to type.

(My desk was slowly going under. The stacks of paper and books and cereal bar wrappers were mounting up. I had to balance my mug of tea on the printer, which didn’t lead to very relaxed writing…)

When I’m busy – especially when I need my energetic, focused periods to write lots – then it’s very tempting to just leave the clutter. Tidying up feels like a brainless, low-powered activity which makes no difference whatsoever to the world.

The thing is, though, keeping my surroundings clutter-free makes a huge difference in my ability to focus. When my desk is clear, it feels inviting. When I’ve got to shift stuff just to reach my keyboard, there’s already a barrier between me and my work.

I’ve come to the (somewhat reluctant) conclusion that I’m happier, more balanced and more focused when I’m living in a tidy environment. If I walk into the kitchen to make a cup of tea or grab a snack in a brief break from writing, I’m much more likely to get distracted (and dispirited) if there are plates piled everywhere. If I can’t find the notes or materials that I need, I’ve got an excuse to give up writing for the day.

You Can’t Always See Clutter

It’s important to deal with physical clutter, not just because it quite literally gets in the way, but because it often represents some form of mental clutter.

When I’ve got papers stacked all over the place, that usually means they’re a reminder of something I need to do. They might be letters which need a reply, bills which need paying, information which needs filing, something on my “to-read” list… and they’re taking up mental RAM.

I’ve been working on several quite different projects during August – finishing my MA, planning my wedding, losing a few pounds, writing lots of material for something coming up on Constructively Productive, helping organise and run my church’s Holiday Club, keeping up with my freelance work – and it’s been hard to keep track of everything.

I’m sure you know what it’s like to have a ton of little things on your mind, taking up attention. I need to make that phone call … oh, and what about … and that email I forgot to reply to … and those letters I really should … It’s hardly conductive to sitting down and focusing on a piece of writing or other creative work.

I’ve just got hold of a copy of Getting Things Done, which I’ve always resisted reading in the past, because I’ve associated it with life-hackery-geekdom and go-getting business types with lots of meetings and targets and projects and whatnot. I’m a writer. I don’t need to organise stuff, I just need chunks of creative time to sit down and do it.

Except, the doing has been getting clogged up by clutter.

I’ll keep you posted on how I get on with Getting Things Done. (I also have Making It All Work, which is the more philosophical/big-picture counterpart.)

Till then, give yourself permission to declutter during your creative time. It might just be the most productive thing you do this week.