The Truth About Constraint & Why They Will Set You Free

Ev Chapman
May 17, 2021

Creativity thrives in constraints.

As creatives and creators, we often balk at that idea. We want wide open space to be able to create and explore unlimited possibilities. But in reality, has your best work really been produced when you've had unlimited time and resources?

I doubt it. It comes when you're pushed for time, a deadline is looming and you have to work with limited resources. It's the challenge of constraints that pushes our creative brains to produce our best work.

When I had no constraints on my writing, I didn't write anything. Except for ideas in my Notion dashboard and 3 blogs on my website in 2 years. Ship30 changed that for me. It gave me constraints of writing 250 words every day, in no more than an hour.

Constraints provided us with:

👉 Boundaries to play within

👉 A safe space to explore

👉 A challenge to overcome

👉 No choice but to innovate

Playing, exploring, innovation and challenges are all part of the creative process. See how constraints provide that? Rather than stifling your creativity, constraints expand your creativity.

Turns out constraints are good for us creative types.

As Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available. When I have a wide open spacious creative brief, I think YES - so much to create. And yet I create very little. On the other hand when I set a timer for 10 minutes and have to write 250 words... the words spill out onto the page.

Your creative muscle needs constraints to thrive and to grow. Why do you think day 1 is so addictive? Because your brain is thriving on the challenge of constraints.

And by day 50... well it's still completely addictive.

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