Quick tip: Find your inspiration space

Creative Inspiration Space is the core idea in this piece, and the practical takeaway is straightforward: running low on ideas.

Running low on ideas? Think about where you got your last one.

No, seriously. What was happening around you the last time that you had a eureka-aha-holy-crap-that’s-a-great-thought moment? Chances are it wasn’t the first time that you’ve had inspiration there.

For me, it’s two places: a stretch between my dad’s house and my own (but only when driving alone), and also behind the piano at my church. For some reason, those are the two places on this planet I’ve found where my mind gets in just the right place for crazy awesome ideas to bubble up to the surface.

There’s science behind it. If your brain is working hard on a problem, a little bit of distraction and a shot of dopamine can kick-start your subconscious into overdrive, making solutions suddenly pop up that your conscious mind might ordinarily suppress. That’s a gross oversimplification, but you can read more about it here.

So when you’re stuck… head to your inspiration space.

Creative Inspiration Space in practice

If you are working through creative inspiration space, the point is to make the next decision clearer, more repeatable, and more useful in real work.

More writing: browse the blog archive.

This kind of work gets easier when you stop waiting for the perfect version and start improving the useful one in front of you.