Creative Momentum

Here's something i wrote on my blog, that seems insightful to me, and i think could even help a few people:


I had a small epiphany about creativity whilst making this game. I’ve noticed that when i manage to work consecutive days, even if i do some minor thing each day, it builds momentum and it’s EASY to make the game.. the gears are already turning, you feel good that you’re at a good pace and it just FLOWS.

On the flip-side, when i skip a day or two, it’s a snowball effect and i end up waking up 2 weeks down the road having done nothing, i can FEEL myself just.. disappointed and stressed that i haven’t risen to the challenge, haven’t gotten my fix of self-expression/creativity. It then becomes 100x harder to pick up where i left off, the gears have grinded to a halt. For some reason it becomes an epic task to get started again, you over-think and its HARD just to put pen to paper. Strange.

If you’re like me and have felt this phenomenon of momentum, heres some tricks i now use to take advantage of it:

1. Don’t finish your current task at the end of the day, or make sure the next “task” to do is something you feel will be fun or easy. This makes it very natural to get the ball rolling again and pick up where you left off.. your mind wont make excuses.

2. Don’t skip days! Work consecutively to build that momentum.. when you take long breaks take them consciously, and make sure that the task you pick it back up on in a week or two adheres to the above guideline. Though at this point taking a “break” actually feels bad, because naturally creating your dreams feels too damn rewarding

As a programmer, I experience this, but less in a creative way and more in a "what the hell was I trying to do with this code again?" kind of way. My solution is actually the opposite of yours. I try not to leave a task unfinished at the end of a session, or I run the risk of losing my train-of-thought.

blank slates... I tend to have too many thoughts going through my head at the same time and can't easily pick a place to start even though I could logically program what I need..

"your mind wont make excuses." hahahah and here is the problem
when i reach this mode,that help me is an self-reflection. i standup and start walking circularly in the room while thinking.this motivate me ,by making me feel fluent.

Nice blogpost, it's good to know that there are people who experience similar things.
I would only add the following to your list:

3. Reward yourself for doing the "not-so-fun" stuff. (i.e. get a beer or play a round of your fav. game)
That often helps me overcome tenacious tasks.

Also... ever tried some "Guru Meditation"?

Skipping days definately gets me out of the flow. Too bad, sometimes you can't avoid it.

What I've also noticed that if I manage to get code working which has bothered me for days, or manage to nail a certain art design I get a big morale boost which helps me make progress in other parts of the game as well. Although I need to keep a level head. If I get too euphoric I generally want to do something else that's fun. A reward is nice, but it means that at times valuable creative juices are lost to playing a game or watching a movie. I try to keep it balanced so that I sometimes get my reward and sometimes continue working.

"your mind wont make excuses." hahahah and here is the problem
when i reach this mode,that help me is an self-reflection. i standup and start walking circularly in the room while thinking.this motivate me ,by making me feel fluent.

I'll try that, maybe that'll work getting me through those moments of my own.

Best thing i can do to keep myself running is to keep myself healty by exercising and hanging out with people i like being with.
If i'm in goood shape and good mood i don't mind spending extra time coding or doing boring tasks.

As a programmer i try to get as much finished and bug free code as possible before ending my day.This helps getting things done for good, so that i can move on the next problem.I'm also writing a blog before sleeping, writing down ideas, what i've done and what is next.
I found blogging quite addicting, and if i'm lacking for comments i just slap in a good image to get attention:P

I'm well aware of the "flow"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29).
When i'm serious about getting something done i fall in this state, and people watching often say i'm both scary and amazing when i do it.
To get this i usually loop some music i like or i did myself in my headphones, but no lyrics or songs.

Momentum is a great way to describe the process. I found that starting the project is the hardest part, and when you stop for a couple of days it can be just as hard to start again. I've been doing a little bit every day for two weeks and I've made great progress. When I get stuck or frustrated with something, I take a break or refocus on another aspect for a while. Usually when I come back I can either successfully overcome the hurdle, or accept that that particular aspect just doesn't need to be in the game.

leaving an unfinished work tends to make me a bit lost when i pick up where the last time i left off

Running into an error the first launch test you is a good morale nerf.
That's why as soon as i open a project i launch a "blank" test, just to see if all works and remember what i did.
No matters how many errors i made meanwhile, the only tests i want to be bug free are the first and the last.^^
It stress me a lot to open project done by others and find errors in the check test.Not so much if they told me there was an error.
The same i do to myself; if there was an error i couldn't debug before going to sleep, i point it out in a note, so the next time i won't blame compiler's pixies if i don't remember i left a bug:D

If i really can't dig it out i break the problem in smaller pieces, until the pieces are so small that don't require any intelligence to solve.