One of the best ways to be productive is to have structure in your life. Productive people generally have schedules with non-negotiable times to accomplish certain tasks. They may attack their most undesirable tasks early so that they are out of the way; they have certain times for checking emails rather than being distracted by every ping; and they have times in their schedules for eating, sleeping, and also for having fun.
It is sometimes assumed that structure and creativity can’t co-exist. That’s really a myth that’s believed by some highly structured people as well as some highly creative people. Some structured folks consider creative out-of-the box thinking to be an unproductive waste of time, and some creative people rebel at any kind of structure – feeling it is too constraining.
The reality is that many of the most accomplished people have a level of structure to their lives, but they don’t let it stifle their creativity. They do allow time for creative thinking and finding new solutions for problems, new ways of experiencing free time, and even new ways of taking their careers in a different direction.
Writing a book or learning how to do art or how to live a different lifestyle or creating a new way of doing a job are creative ventures that can be very self-rewarding. They require a couple of attributes, however: a willingness to set aside some time to be creative and take risks exploring new things, and then incorporating the creative new venture into the structure of your life.
Some of the most creative people in the world are among the most structured. Successful authors and artists build creative time into their schedules and allow creative thoughts to sometimes distract them, but they typically maintain a pretty structured schedule of writing or doing art or writing music or designing houses or gardens.
You can have the best of both worlds by having a productive structure while also maintaining access to that creative part that everybody has. It just means that you can’t let your structure stifle your creativity. The two parts of you can definitely co-exist.