Constraints Can Lead To Creativity

We all love options. We love to be able to have the ability to go where we please, do what we want, and feel as though we are in complete control of every part of our lives. In a sense we do have quite a bit of control. Don’t want to work where you are anymore? You can change that. Don’t want to live where you are? You can change that, too.

But, what about the times when you don’t have quite as many options as you’d like? Or, what about when you only have one or two choices ahead of you? It can feel stifling, frustrating, and occasionally unfair. You may even think to yourself, “Why do some people get to go through life the easy way, and others are stuck with limitations and responsibilities?” However, those constraints can be harnessed.

I’ve known people with very little disposable income. Without money to toss around or even spend on small luxuries, these people have come up with inexpensive, but entertaining ways to keep themselves happy. I’ve also known many people who have worked to pay off a large debt, and they find creative ways to spend as little as possible every day, so that they can push more and more money towards their goal. If they were spending money like everyone else, they would probably be engaging in the same habits as everyone else. But instead of buying lunch every day, they come up with a bunch of recipes to throw in a slow cooker or to batch cook over the weekend.

Constraints on time can be another driver of creativity. There’s a saying —

People who have a lot on their plate are quite capable of prioritizing their time, managing expectations, and pushing to move a project forward. On the other hand, people who don’t have much going on seem to let things slide, and wait until the last minute to start working on their tasks.

It’s busy people who somehow find a way to get it all done. They come up with creative solutions to fit more into an already crowded schedule. A number of looming deadlines can spark the thoughts that lead to an amazing creative result.

In writing this weekly post for the past year, there have definitely been moments when I thought I didn’t have anything new to say about the topic of creativity. But yet, given the constraint of only writing about one subject, I found new ideas that I would never have thought of if I had just decided to give up and say it couldn’t be done.

If you find yourself in a position where you’re struggling to find a solution to a problem, perhaps try to constrain yourself and your thinking to only work with a carefully defined set of boundaries. Once you’ve done that, you may find that there are quite a number of worthwhile solutions just jumping around in your head, waiting to lead you to creativity.