Creative work isn’t more fun or easier than less creative work. Indeed, our busy, conscious brains seem to do everything in their power to keep us from taking the risks that let us be creative.
There is, though, a powerful switch that lets us sidestep consciousness. It’s the switch of routine. Trigger the switch enough times, and your brain quiets.
It’s true for all kinds of work – think about how you can make your coffee or drive to work and then not really remember doing those actions. You’ve done the same routine enough times that the conscious mind clicks off. It’s as if your conscious mind says, “Oh, I see you’ve got this, autopilot. I’ll just take a break.”
That switch, that slowly built routine, is the best tool I know for quieting my mind and letting myself be creative. When I switch on the routine, I can almost literally feel the thoughts of the day switch off. My heart rate and breathing slow, my thoughts stretch out, and I begin to find a creative idea.