Developing a Creative Mindset in an Age of Distractions

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Flywheel Concept
3. Flywheel for Design Students
   1. Challenge Yourself
      • Flow Theory
      • Eat That Frog
      • The First Draft of Anything Is Shit
   2. Remove Distractions and Take Breaks
      • Digital Minimalism
   3. Be Intentional and Love the Process
      • Atomic Habits
      • Player, Referee, Coach Mindset
   4. Just Start
      • Creative Confidence
      • The Capture Habit
4. References

Introduction

In this lecture, I'll be discussing insights from various self-help books focused on creativity, life changes, and finding purpose. These topics are not only personally interesting but also directly relevant to becoming a successful design student.

The books I'll be referencing include:

I find this subject fascinating because it reveals how creative minds work, what biases and pitfalls we all face, and how we can overcome them. Creative people often struggle with motivation, procrastination, and distractions—myself included. We're also often a neurodivergent crowd.

While I'll use personal examples to illustrate points, this lecture isn't about my specific challenges. Be aware that my perspective can be opinionated, and I sometimes add drama to emphasize certain points.

Throughout this lecture, I'll include "philosophy slides"—moments to reflect on deeper questions related to our creative process.

The Flywheel Concept

Each lesson I'll share is assembled into what's called a flywheel—a concept I learned from Intentioneel Leven. I want to use this concept to motivate your learning journey.

A flywheel preserves the momentum and progress you've already made, making it easier to restart. Each tip adds to your flywheel's momentum, and once it's spinning, starting new creative endeavors becomes increasingly easier.

"A goal without a plan is just a wish." – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Flywheel for Design Students

1. (Really) Challenge Yourself

Flow Theory

This concept, developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is about finding the right level of challenge.

If a task isn't challenging enough, you get bored and seek distractions. If it's too challenging, you feel insecure, overwhelmed, or demotivated.

But when you find that sweet spot—a challenge that stretches your abilities just right—you enter a flow state where you become fully absorbed. Hours pass, distractions fade, and you're completely engaged in your creative work.

So challenging yourself appropriately rewards you with focus, attention, and a sense of accomplishment.

Eat That Frog

This principle, popularized by Mark Twain and Brian Tracy, suggests tackling the hardest task first. Many self-help books repeat this concept because it makes intuitive sense.

Consider this scenario: It's Sunday, and you need to take out the garbage in the rain—a five-minute task you dread. You have two options:

1. Postpone it all day while playing video games, with the thought "I still need to take out the garbage" interrupting you multiple times before finally doing it at day's end.

2. Immediately put on a raincoat, take out the garbage, then enjoy video games uninterrupted.

In the first scenario, you remain a prisoner to the dreaded task all day. In the second, you're instantly free of your burden.

The First Draft of Anything Is Shit

There's an old Dutch saying: "Driemaal is scheepsrecht." This comes from sailing traditions and suggests that it might take three attempts to get something right—like parking a massive ship.

Accept this reality in your design work. Maybe the third iteration will be the successful one, but you need to work through the first and second attempts to learn and improve. These initial tries aren't about the end result but about starting the process and overcoming the initial hurdle.

When teachers see your iterations showing genuine struggle and learning (not just subtle color changes or slight logo adjustments), we'll reward your effort with credits. How could we not?

"Real recognize real" – Young Jeezy

Philosophy slide: "If putting in effort (mental or physical) makes you release endorphins (thus making you happy), has this age of comfort and services made us less human?"

2. Remove Distractions and Take Breaks

Let's address distractions—the elements that can pull you out of your focus and creative process.

First, understand that distractions and breaks are different. Taking a break means intentionally stopping work to recharge. Please take breaks!

Distractions are unwanted interruptions that break your flow state.

Many self-help books discuss structuring when and how much information you receive. They recommend rituals like checking messages only twice daily. The consensus is that distractions severely harm your creative and work process, making it vital to structure your work environment.

Consider your relationship with your phone. Some people have reached a Pavlovian stage—like the famous experiment where Pavlov's dog salivated at the sound of a bell associated with feeding time.

I've seen people instinctively reach for their phones at the first buzz, even during important conversations or social gatherings.

Digital Minimalism

In Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport offers helpful guidance:

• Clutter is costly: Too many apps and devices consume your time and attention, diminishing overall life quality.
• Remove as many notifications as possible
• Optimization is important: It's not just about which technologies you use, but how you use them to maximize benefit.
• Intentionality is satisfying: Being deliberate about your technology use brings meaningful satisfaction beyond convenience.

Clean up your phone, do a 30-day digital cleanse, be intentional about what apps you use and why.

Remove distractions but do take breaks.

Opinion slide: Some claim TikTok can be inspiring, but that's like saying cola contains water. Yes, there's water in cola, but it's mostly sugar, which is harmful in large amounts. TikTok is similar—remove it.

3. Be Intentional and Love the Process

Being a designer might seem result-oriented: "My website is online," "My poster is on the wall," "My logo is being used," "Look at my finished video!"

But what we should truly appreciate (especially in this era of AI-generated content) is the effort and learning required to achieve these results.

Opinion slide: Another reason I dislike TikTok is that you might watch someone power-washing their driveway but don't experience the satisfaction of doing it yourself. These videos trick you into feeling accomplishment when you've actually done nothing. Don't fall for these dopamine traps.

Atomic Habits

This is where Atomic Habits comes in. Become someone who enjoys drawing or doodling for its own sake. Find pleasure in experimenting with code just for fun. Maybe edit videos no one will see, simply out of curiosity.

The motivation for a good habit or new skill comes from feeling personal growth. Running a 5K once won't change you, but running weekly will.

Philosophy slide: "Character is what you do when no one is watching."

When starting a new goal, focus more on how it shapes you as a person or designer rather than the specific outcome.

"I want to run a 5K because I want to become a fitter person."

Player, Referee, Coach Mindset

I see much self-sabotage among design students, who criticize their work before it's even begun: "It sucks, it's not finished, don't look at this yet."

My drawing teacher taught me a valuable lesson when I was afraid to draw a first line: "There is a time for playing and a time for judging. Now is the time for play." The balance between these modes makes your work "good."

Develop these three mindsets for yourself:

• Player: Enjoys the process and keeps rules loosely in mind.
• Referee: Evaluates work against standards and rules.
• Coach: Encourages your best effort regardless of outcome.

Be intentional about which role you're in when creating. This approach also works well for giving and receiving feedback. (de Bono, E. (1985). Six thinking hats. Little, Brown and Company.)

4. Just Start

"You have to start before you're ready." – Steven Pressfield

Sometimes you just need to begin—only then can you see what happens next.

To iterate on something, you must first have something to iterate on.

Creative Confidence

The Kelley brothers argue in Creative Confidence that creativity isn't an innate trait—it's a skill developed through practice, starting, failing, and trying again.

The Capture Habit

One approach is what Tiago Forte calls the "capture habit" in Building a Second Brain. Write things down, create scratch files, leave voice memos—make starting easy and casual. It doesn't need to be tidy or structured. The goal is to reduce friction.

This feeds into the flywheel concept. One push leads to another. One sketch leads to a second. One bad idea leads to a better one. Stop trying to get it right on the first try. Start spinning the wheel.

Philosophy slide: "Does perfectionism disguise itself as procrastination?"

I often hear students say: "It's not good enough yet, so I haven't submitted it."

But that's not how creative growth works. You don't improve by waiting until it's good enough. You improve by doing the work, showing the work, and getting feedback.

Done is better than perfect. Started is better than stuck.

"Shitty is pretty" - Thomas Geurink