Chad M. Barrett

Earlier this week I began to ponder the question of whether creative people can be organized. I began to question the notion that creative people aren't, or cannot be, organized. I consider myself both creative and organized, so I googled the question and developed the following answer.

If you think of an organized person as someone that knows where something is when needed, then I think you can conclude that creative people are organized. Perhaps, if we articulate a difference between organized and cluttered, then we can allow creative people to be organized but maybe cluttered. For example, I know people that organize using piles. (I admit I use a bit of this.) When you go into their office you are struck immediately by the piles lying everywhere. If those people can put their hands on an important document when needed, then I think we should consider them organized.

I think that some creative people organize creatively. The result may be a cluttered space where everything has a place and can be easily retrieved. I am not a person that likes clutter. I like clean spaces, but I don't think that someone that is cluttered is necessarily disorganized. They have found an organizational style that suits them.

You would think that this week, with Thanksgiving and vacation, I would take time to relax. I guess that I relax by tackling creative projects that take lots of time; more time than I have when I am working. The past couple of days I've been creating a Web site (not mine - for someone else). The development of this Web site is a creative activity for me. This activity reinforced for me the idea that being creative is hard work.

For example, I spent three hours trying to design a logo. At the end of the three hours I had a blank canvas; exactly what I had when I started. Perhaps drawing on a blank canvas is just too much to me. I believe I may be better at taking pieces and putting them together. My own Web site is really a collection of modules from other developers along with my content. I think that the pieces fit together pretty well, but only the content comes from a blank canvas.

Anyway, designing the Web page reminded me that creativity is hard work. I've read and hear from others more creative than I that they understand that creativity is work. I am also reminded of a couple of other pearls of wisdom.

• Practice does not make perfect, it makes automatic.
• It takes 10,000 hours of work to become an expert at something.

Perhaps you will find these ideas as useful (or as intimidating) as I do.