Creativity in solitude and digital minimalism
By: Jennifer Hui
Tags: Solitude, Creativity, Digital Minimalism, Design Process

A few weeks ago, I attended a live streaming of Andrew Bird’s Gezelligheid where he spoke briefly about finding creativity in solitude. He described a creative period where he moved away from his Chicago apartment into a barn in Western Illinois. It served as a studio where he could use the open space to experiment with his music away from the restlessness of the city.

Solitude and boredom can actually create ideal conditions for creativity. They serve as a catalysts for our minds to wander to the far corners of the imagination. For many, there’s a need to escape from the noise and bustle to reset the mind. For myself personally, ideas or solutions often surface during the quietest hours of my day or while I’m on a long run where I can completely clear my mind. The ability to unplug allows me to mentally recharge and be intune with what’s present and physical.

Why solitude works

In a study conducted by Duke University, researchers found silence promoted the development of the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is responsible for the formation of memory. Silence allows for the brain to internalize and analyze information. As a designer with a lot of team meetings, I see this in my everyday work. I find stepping away during my lunch break, as well as researching and designing alone first is key to my creativity, problem solving and energy level.

Furthermore, solitude and minimalism go hand in hand as creativity can be found where there is focus and utility without distraction.

Seeking digital minimalism

It goes without saying that a clear space means a clear mind. But distractions and restlessness aren’t just caused by our physical surroundings. In the current era of technology, our digital surroundings can affect psychological well being. The internet is a powerful force for improving our lives and providing utility, but it can also create exhaustion if left unrestricted.

As a tech worker, I spend my day working on the computer to design and research digital experiences. This past year, I’ve been working remotely which means I don’t have a commute or a change in environment to separate my work hours from non-working hours. After work, I sometimes find myself aimlessly scrolling through Instagram, refreshing my Gmail or giving myself anxiety by reading too many news articles. I think there’s a strong correlation between my creative exhaustion and restlessness from my constant digital surroundings this past year.

Searching for a solution, I recently came across a book called Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. I fancy attempting anything with the word minimalism in it, so I was immediately intrigued. Newport defines digital minimalism as

“…a philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else”.

Much like physical minimalism, we can prioritize our time digitally by a simple cost benefit analysis of its value rather than seeking any and all benefits (which would be maximalism).

Newport highlights 3 principles of digital minimalism:

1: “Clutter is costly: Digital minimalists recognize that cluttering their time and attention with too many devices, apps, and services creates an overall negative cost that can swamp the small benefits that each individual item provides in isolation.”

2. “Optimization is important: Digital minimalists believe that deciding a particular technology supports something they value is only the first step. To truly extract its full potential benefit, it’s necessary to think carefully about how they’ll use the technology.”

3. “Intentionality is satisfying.”

Tools for creativity and productivity

I think these principles can be applied to the creative process particularly for work as a digital designer. Being intentional about our time and digital resources provides us the opportunity to be productive and unleash creative potential. Applying these principles, I started to think about which tools help me to focus, manage my productivity or promote creative growth and pursuits.

Cleaning the digital clutter

Stayfocusd: I started using this to break the habit of mindlessly checking my email, the news, or Instagram. I set the timer for 15 minutes a day. Notion: I don’t use Notion daily, but more so for long term planning and organizing. It’s a bit like a personal wiki workspace that provides layouts and toolkits to plan projects, work and goals. The user interface is simple and clean. Todoist: As a designer and user, I admire the products Doist (company that creates Todoist) makes. Doist creates minimal yet intentional productivity tools. Todoist is something that I use in my day to day routine because it’s elegantly simple and functional. Are.na: A minimalist’s version of Pinterest, Are.na allows me to collect, organize, and analyze ideas without ads or clutter. It’s less visually focused than Pinterest in my opinion, so I can use it to save links or more written content. Patreon: As an alternative to finding creative inspiration on Instagram, I like the depth of creative content from my subscriptions. While I can’t follow as many creatives on Patreon, I find value in the community and focus on creative learning. Removing social media from my phone: I’m attempting a social media detox from my phone in an attempt to curb mindless scrolling. Stay tuned :)

Tools for finding creativity

Being out in nature: Long walks or runs keep me positive and provide better mental clarity especially this past year. Picking up a skill / hobby different from what I do professionally. In my past profession, I worked on the technical side of things and always founds myself wanting to work on a visually creative skill in my free time. Now that I work in design, I find learning a technical skill provides a necessary mental escape and refresh. It also broadens my perspective as a designer. (Virtual) coffee meetings: At my current workplace, we have weekly coffee meetings where we can catch up with coworkers in the morning. Because I started this job virtually, its been helpful in getting to know my coworkers and and start my day with a fresh mind. (Virtual) Travel: There’s a lot we can learn about creative perspective from a change in environment and experiences. As a creative, travel has been important in the growth of my product craft. Without the ability to travel this year, I find that virtual experiences can still offer some of the benefits of actual travel. I‘ve been enjoying my subscription to Monocle.

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