How to build a creative playground Here are 4 tips on how to lock yourself into a cage and have fun: 1. Make variations: Stick with something that you can iterate and vary. Think of basketball: There is only one goal, yet there are countless ways to achieve it. 2. Limit your time: This lets you know when you are done. 3. Pick a format: You won’t get lost in too many options, as for instance: too many pens. 4. Focus on a skill: Nothing protects us better from doubt than personal progress. This is the magic formula for creative fun: Less decisions — more room for play.

How to build a creative playground

Here are 4 tips on how to lock yourself into a cage and have fun :

1. Make variations : Stick with something that you can iterate and vary. Think of basketball: There is only one goal, yet there are countless ways to achieve it.

2. Limit your time : This lets you know when you are done .

3. Pick a format : You won’t get lost in too many options , as for instance: too many pens.

4. Focus on a skill : Nothing protects us better from doubt than personal progress .

This is the magic formula for creative fun: Less decisions — more room for play.

The Creative Playground - Ralph Ammer

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Here are some other techniques people use to access and maintain the zone:

Introducing a long delay between when you do the work and when it is shown to the world. Annie Ernaux writes about this in A Simple Passion, a memoir about how she becomes obsessed in a banal way with a man who is having an affair with her—the thought that others will read th

Substack • Notes | Substack

Are these limitations helping you be more creative?

— Exactly. It’s the most critical part. With any kind of creative work you start disabling as much as possible and narrow it down only to the necessary tools you need, and from there start making the work. That’s what I believe makes you super creative.

The founder of Teenage Engineering opens up to his creative space

‘Focusing the creative energy on a narrower field of exploration allows for a more in-depth processing of fewer alternatives. Once a frame is in place, the focus can shift to creating something memorable within it.’

Rob Hopkins • From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want

1 – Show up. Many work sessions will feel unproductive which can feel frustrating, but the best creatives sit down to work even when they don't feel like it. Consistency rewards creativity.

2 – Generate a ton of ideas. Your best ideas rarely come early. So when you think you've got it, keep going.

3 – Refine the good ones. If you find

The trick is to figure out ways to explore the edges of possibility that surround you. This can be as simple as changing the physical environment you work in, or cultivating a specific kind of social network, or maintaining certain habits in the way you seek out and store information.

The Creative Playground - Ralph Ammer

Substack • Notes | Substack

The founder of Teenage Engineering opens up to his creative space

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