Josh Collesano dot com

Gridlock And The Creative Roadblock

Every day I take the same route to work

5 years, the same route. It gets me from point A (our apartment) to point B (NorthRidge).

Until 3 weeks ago…

Three weeks ago I left with plenty of time to get to my office on time and then I hit the worst traffic EVER. I don’t know why I sat in that traffic as long as I did but by the time I pulled into the parking lot at NorthRidge I had been in my car for 1 hour and 15 minutes. That’s more than twice the time it would normally take me. I could have easily gone another way, taken a different route to get to where I needed to go but for some reason…

I sat

I tweeted

I checked email

I read my bible

I got angry

tweeted and Instagram’d some more

and then got angry again because I WASN’T GOING ANYWHERE!

I think the same can be said for our creative efforts. We sink into a formula that we think will get us from point A (awesome idea) to point B (awesome finished thing) the best way possible. Even when it doesn’t we stick to the same ways, the same path, the same routine, expecting results and determined to make it work.

I think the best results come when we can adapt to our surroundings, see the road blocks and adjust our plan.

A few questions you can ask yourself if you’re finding that the usual way of doing things has slowed down:

1. What is preventing me from getting ______ done?

2. Did I put those road blocks there or is someone else responsible?

3. What’s the best thing I can do NOW to make progress?

4. Is there a better way?