I’m convinced.

We’re all different. We all prefer different work spaces and work processes. But sometimes, for the best productivity of any creative venture, we need a block of time. And not just any block of time. A clean block of time.

clean from electronics.
No phones, no email, and no buzzers. Of any kind. (Is this even possible?) There’s something about today’s screaming technology that siphons the life out of creativity.

Little electronic gnats follow us everywhere, even infesting our computers. Every few minutes or so on my Mac, a little window drops down on the top right of the screen telling me that an email just came in, or my hard-drive space is almost full (a writer’s problem), or that it’s now 9:00.

In normal, everyday work, I need the interruption, to get the job done. But when I’m trying to be creatively productive in a clean block of time, helpful reminders dirty up the art of creating.

To be uber-productive, I have to turn the reminders off. You might have to, too.

 clean of kids’ interruptions.
I know, I know. Moms and dads, this one’s almost impossible. BUT. To create in a mentally-free space, we have to clear our minds.

We have to get away — or work before the kids wake up or after they go to bed. (Remember, I have a ton of kids. I get this.)

There’s something about clean, uninterrupted silence that gets us into a place of high creativity. Little voices or taps on the arm whoosh us out of that space.

Yes, sometimes that interrupted time, or shared time with our kid sitting next to us, is the only thing we’ve got — so we’ll take it. But to be uber-productive, I have to find alone space. You might have to, too.

clean of significant-other interruptions.
When it comes to getting to the inner place of creation, your significant other will most likely not get it. To those of you who are paired with creatives, you have a blessed life.

Oh, the not-getting-it isn’t intentional. On the contrary, the “Oops! I’m sorry! You were deep in thought just then, weren’t you?” moments are honest.

I have to work out that special block of alone time, with confirmation that it’s not about them. It’s about me. To be uber-productive, you might have to do this, too.

clean of social media.
I don’t have to go on about this one. Whether it’s Facebook, Linked in, Twitter, or Instagram, social media can’t exist in an uber-creative-uber-productive block of time. For all of us. With four fingers pointing back at me. (’nuff said)

  clean of worries.
None of us are ever worry free. Our minds swirl. Social, relational, financial, and job-related — it doesn’t matter where the concerns come from.

If I don’t have a quiet time where I release concerns in prayer or meditation, creativity remains wrapped and bound in shredded pieces of emotional cloth. I putter. I mutter. I flit. I do anything but go into the creative space. (Can you relate?)

It doesn’t matter who or what shut the door. It’s shut. For me, to be creative, that worry needs releasing.

To be uber-productive, you might have to do this, too. However. Whatever. Whomever. The clean block of time can’t truly happen with worry.

So. One more thing on this clean-block-of-time, super-productive thing.

For me, it has to be planned. Scheduled. Made happen.

It’s Monday. This just might be a good time to put something in the calendar, to ensure that this coveted uber-productive creative time happens.

(I am.)

Lifting my mug to you. Here’s to an uber-productive week.

* Thup