Some people say that they are more creative at night.
For most of my life, especially during my teenage years, I certainly felt that this was true. It was as if a different, more imaginative part of my brain came alive when everyone had gone to sleep and everything was silent. I would play guitar deep into the night, neglecting whatever homework assignments were preventing me from going to bed.
However, now that my creative pursuits are channeled into writing, I'm amazed at how unproductive I become past 10pm.
It’s as if my brain says, “No thanks, I’d rather just go to bed.”
In response, I often argue, “That’s not the deal we agreed on. You said you would put in the effort today.” After some prodding, my mind reluctantly cooperates, and I manage to write something.
But it’s not always good. In fact, it’s not good most of the time. I used to worry that this was a problem, that if you weren’t able to produce something good or even great, then it wasn’t worth your time. However, now I love creating things that are bad; it’s a liberation of the mind, a way of letting loose, to finally stop caring.
Nonetheless, it’s still better to set yourself up for success and to do your creative work when you can do it best. I acknowledge, as I write this at 12:33am, that I'm racing against the clock, because like my old high school days, the only thing stopping me from going to bed is finishing this piece of writing, publishing it to my website, and brushing my teeth.
So that is what I’m going to do.
Do your best. If you can’t do your best, then just do it.
Better to do it imperfectly than to not do it all.
.png)
Some people say that they are more creative at night.
For most of my life, especially during my teenage years, I certainly felt that this was true. It was as if a different, more imaginative part of my brain came alive when everyone had gone to sleep and everything was silent. I would play guitar deep into the night, neglecting whatever homework assignments were preventing me from going to bed.
However, now that my creative pursuits are channeled into writing, I'm amazed at how unproductive I become past 10pm.
It’s as if my brain says, “No thanks, I’d rather just go to bed.”
In response, I often argue, “That’s not the deal we agreed on. You said you would put in the effort today.” After some prodding, my mind reluctantly cooperates, and I manage to write something.
But it’s not always good. In fact, it’s not good most of the time. I used to worry that this was a problem, that if you weren’t able to produce something good or even great, then it wasn’t worth your time. However, now I love creating things that are bad; it’s a liberation of the mind, a way of letting loose, to finally stop caring.
Nonetheless, it’s still better to set yourself up for success and to do your creative work when you can do it best. I acknowledge, as I write this at 12:33am, that I'm racing against the clock, because like my old high school days, the only thing stopping me from going to bed is finishing this piece of writing, publishing it to my website, and brushing my teeth.
So that is what I’m going to do.
Do your best. If you can’t do your best, then just do it.
Better to do it imperfectly than to not do it all.
