In Episode 12 of the Creative Work Hour podcast, we explore whether creativity can be taught or is something that must be cultivated. The discussion covers the balance between scheduling creative time and allowing for spontaneous inspiration. The panel also shares tools and techniques for capturing creative ideas, including digital apps and traditional methods. Additionally, the episode highlights the supportive role of the Creative Work Hour community and features personal stories about the creative process. Listeners are encouraged to share their own methods for capturing creativity at me@creativeworkhour.com.

Welcome back to day 12 of the Creative Work Hour podcast. What we are doing in the month of November is every day we're taking a few minutes and having a conversation, and it's our entry for a National Podcast post-month.

I will ask a question to start the conversation flowing.

Can creativity be taught or only cultivated? Jump in?

Yes.

Yes to both?

I think both. I think the creative mindset is cultivated, and I'm not sure "taught" would be the word I'd actually agree on. I think more of giving space to flourish, so long as that part of the approach recognizes the diversity of all of us and how we learn.

Oh, I like that. I like the creativity. This is Alessandra, and yeah, I was just thinking about every few months, I'll write some little catchphrases for Creative Work Hour, and one that I was just kind of playing around with, noodling around with as our friend Michael would say, is Creative Work Hour: Powerful Personal Creative Training, because we do get training here. I do feel like a coach on some days, and some days I'm the person that is begging, "Please help me. I'm scared of this thing I've decided to do." Right, shadows?

What do you think? I never hear that from you. I think the teaching is in the cultivating. I show youngsters how to draw. They can draw lines, but what's really going to cultivate them to be creative is encouraging them. You can show them the basics, but the creativity has to come from them.

So can creativity be scheduled to follow along with that? Is it just free-flowing and spontaneous, or can you schedule it?

I think life pretty much determines that we have to create space for it.

Yes, I would agree. I mean, we make space for Creative Work Hour, right? And we try and create during that. What's interesting about creativity is, you know, it's a human response, right? Or if one is a cat, there's a feline response of creativity; like animals are creative. They're always finding ways to do things so that they can be lazy and get a bigger reward from further efforts, right? And we're the same way.

So my thought about that is, yeah, there is a protocol that when I sit down and I'm in front of my laptop with my cup of tea and my green Smithson book and my erasable pen, my body recognizes what the next step is most likely going to be. I'm likely going to put a link in my browser and sit with my friends and let my nervous system get used to the idea that creativity is not a lonely job. We may be the one who's the author of or the composer of and so forth, but it's not a lonely job.

And it gets easier when you can come alongside and see, oh, this is what it's like. It's like when I was in school; there were kinds of homework that I could do on my own. But other homework I had to do at the library, where I could see my friends also procrastinating doing the thing that they say they only do at the library.

Yeah, so this is our hangout library. Or another way to describe it is the vibe that we have here is Breakfast Club. I don't know what your thought, Greg.

I like what Shaddaf said earlier. And I also think that it can be scheduled because we schedule time for Creative Work Hours. And so we create during that time.

If your creativity had a voice, what would it say?

I think most often what it says to me is give me space or give us space. We can get really wrapped up in the day-to-day. And when I do have creative thoughts, there's the parallel voices saying, so when? You know, when are we gonna... how can we pounce? How can we stop? We take a moment to have the space.

And for me, sometimes it's nothing more than grabbing my phone and putting in a reminder voice message of "come back to this," make the time. You can't do it right now but don't forget.

I think that's so important as well. We were talking about that a few days ago when you were saying put a reminder voice in and I'll come back to that.

I looked this morning and I have five voice messages from yesterday alone saying "come back to this." You know, it's just what it is.

Is that something on your recorder app?

I use the reminder app on my iPhone. So there's a reminder app. And the reason I do it there is it's quick and easy. And it pops up every morning—the next morning—there are things you didn't assign a date and time to—they're there.

Part of my getting going in the morning is just looking through all those reminders that are either unassigned or are assigned for that date and time or prior.

Will it persist until you tell it not to remind you anymore?

It will persist until I click on the dot that implies it's done.

That sounds a little bit like the way I use my Alexa to remind me something. And then every hour she'll remind me until I say I'm done.

Absolutely. Yeah. But sometimes it gets a little bit annoying because you're in the middle of something and then she comes on and you're like, shut up.

Yeah, I was thinking every hour I'd be looking for a gun.

Can you change that setting?

I don't think it lets you set the intervals. It's either you have it remind you once or have it remind you every hour. Probably there's a way to do it but...

The reminder app—just to finish that—I can assign a recurrence or a specific date and/or specific time.

Do you have that functionality?

I used to have my Google calendar set up like that. And I had an IFTTT integration—it sounds like If This Then That—which is a little bit like Zapier. So if something happens—so if this happens—if a calendar event comes up then that—and then then that in this case was megaphone call.

So if there was a calendar event megaphone call—and so any of my Google calendar events—it would call me and say you have a calendar event. But they—they're capped out too—I was having too many reminders. And I think you can do 30 calls without having to pay unless they've changed that.

How do you use tech? How do other people use tech to remember things? Because this is great.

What I do is old school because I was finding trying this app and trying this app and trying this other app—it was a bit much and it was aggravating the ADHD. It wasn't calming me so that I could cognitively perform at a higher level.

So after four years of searching on pretty much a daily basis, I finally found an actual book that's created in the UK that is the Creative Work Hour book. We even have it like imprinted so it's the CWH book. And the reason why I have that is because it gives me space from my "have-tos" and I can just at a glance without anything being charged up—mind you—see where I have left open loops and where I have left loose ends.

But even more importantly amongst those of us in the Creative Work Hour community—if we have something special going on like shadows had her 500th posting of her generative artwork and prose project called Daily Echoes—I had that booked on that—it was October—when was that October 27th wasn't it?

Yeah.

And so I only remember that in my head because it was in the book. So any of us that have something special going on—we literally book it in the community—and I'm the one who is in charge of not losing that stuff.

No pressure.

Yeah but it just makes a big difference that oh—I may be having this kind of day or that kind of day—I may be in my creative work or resisting my creative work—but nevertheless something special is going on for Greg or for Bobby or for Ella or for Hillary or for shadows.

What I forget though is to put special things in for me.

The cobbler's kids have no shoes.

Right Greg?

Yeah. And that's one of the great things I like about Creative Work—is that for me it's a big family—and we are there for one another.

But we take the fun out of dysfunction though right?

Yes absolutely.

If someone's got something going on—you know—we talk about tiny desk concerts which basically is if someone's got a presentation or something they're working on—they want to show the other groups—we'll take time out to look at that and give some feedback.

And that's what I really like about Creative Work Hour—that being together—that you know—to help each other.

And we're proud to show things off.

Yeah it's a risk but then we walk taller in our boots for the rest of the day.

Yes absolutely.

And you were talking about recording it in your book right? And there's a lot to be said for writing—for free-handing it—the actual movement of the pen on paper. There's a lot to be said for now.

Oh yeah we'll have a whole other conversation about writing at hand on paper.

Oh that's good.

You like that one shadows?

I write with my Apple pencil on my iPad.

Ooh you're modern.

I get the benefit of writing electronically that can be converted to text but also the benefit of cursive handwriting.

So as we're finishing off—Bobby mentioned reminders—I mentioned the Smithson planner—shadows mentioned using her Apple pencil with her iPad—and is the app that you use their shadows—the one you prefer—is it Nibo?

So the writing that I do with my pencil to screen in Nibo—is when I'm making notes on something—like when I'm doing Daily Echoes—and to capture things like ideas—I have two notes—one is my daily note—that has suggestion list—I don't do "to-do" lists—it's my suggestion list—if it's something that I'm actually wanting to do—I'll put it on the suggestion list—if it's something I just want to explore—it goes into a note called miscellaneous—that's an Obsidian—and Obsidian is open from the minute I open the computer until I close it.

Lovely. And I use my Alexa—and sometimes I have TTT with Google Calendar—yeah Hillary how about you what do you use—that's the question—we were just talking about how to make a note-to-self reminders—what do you use?

I use the green book part copy scraps of paper.

Oh yeah—you lose those paper though are you very old?

I get drowned in them—but you keep a big jar on the table—and use them like a grab bag—you know reaching grab one oh that's what I'll do—that'd be a little more useful than what happens around here—I always try to go electronics—so I love Trello—but I always end up with stickies on my computer on the back of my phone—it’s too hard to break—

Yeah it's a guilty pleasure—I bought two 1000 page blocks of paper that's etched in gold because get at me—

Well thank you guys so much—Greg you do a beautiful job of opening and closing conversations—and yes when this session ends—I will get the computer—no—I will get the recording—and send it right over to you—

Sounds great—before we go if you're listening to this on the podcast—we'd like to know what you use to record things to go back later—what do you use—do you do old school—do you do apps—

Let us know—you can send us an email—to me—that's me@creativeworkhour.com—

Yeah thanks guys.