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As a creative professional, there's a good chance that you
spend a lot of time alone. Whether you freelance at home or work in an
office full of other people, creative work requires you to delve down
deep in the corners of your mind and mine it for new ideas, which can
feel like a totally isolating process (especially if you're not an introvert).
However, despite the fact that your alone time might not feel particularly enjoyable (recent studies
have shown that humans hate having to be alone with their thoughts), it
may just be one of the keys to unlocking some of your best ideas.
The Benefits of Being Alone
Spending time alone has some particularly noticeable benefits -
especially in terms of creativity and productivity: two key assets of
any creative professional.
Better Focus on One Single Subject
Despite the fact you probably have a million things to get done at once, studies have shown that human brains are just not good at multitasking.
By spending time alone, however, you can zero in on one project at once
- meaning you can get it done more efficiently, and at a higher
quality.
More Positive Emotions
Research scientist Reed Larson
spent time studying the effect of being alone on the moods of teenagers
and adolescents. He found that while, in general, people didn't
necessarily enjoy spending time completely alone at the time, they ended
up in a better mood down the line.
Freedom from Demands of Others
When we spend time with other people, psychologists explain that we are subject to their short-term demands.
While these demands might be generally pretty low key, they can
distract you from whatever work you're focused on. Alone time allows
people to refocus on their own priorities, without having to weigh them
against the requests of others.
More Creativity
Collaboration can be a fun and stimulating process. But studies have shown that trying to come up with creative ideas with other people actually gets in the way of the idea generation process.
There are many reasons that group brainstorming isn't as effective as
individual brainstorming: group-think, distraction, and fear of judgment
(among others). So, spend time trying to come up with creative ideas
alone, and you'll probably come up with more (and better) ones.
Improved Memory
Spending time alone has been shown to boost your memory.
So, during your solitary work time, you may just find that you better
remember facts you've learned, ideas you've come up with, and helpful
associations that you've made.
How to Spend Time Alone
We live in a constantly connected world, which can make it difficult
to carve out time to be alone with your creative work. If you want to
ensure you get some quality solitude time in, check out the following
tips:
1. Set a weekly date.
You set weekly dates with friends or partners - now try setting one
with yourself. Designate a chunk of time each week that you will spend
alone working on creative projects, then stick to it no matter what.
2. Create a designated workspace.
Find a workspace for yourself where you can close the door. Being
able to physically separate yourself from other people while you work is
a great way to unlock your creative ideas.
3. Request time to work from home.
If you work at an office, discuss the possibility of working from
home with your boss. Even if you are only able to work from home once
every week or two, you may see a distinct boost in your creative output.
While solitude often feels like loneliness, it's important to
recognize alone time as an important step in the creative process.
Creative Market creatives - do you enjoy the time you spend alone? Have
you experienced any productivity or creativity benefits from solitude?
Some locations are not available. Others are international. (Do you dare to select an international location?) Where is Wendy's? What other restaurants are missing?
Don't limit yourself to reading the perspective of your neighbors. When news involves people around the world, find out what they are writing. Skip references ending in .edu or .com, and instead head directly to resources from the country of your inquiry.
For instance, rearching local resources in Germany, you'll use "Site.DE" "De" stands for Deutschland. (Including "site" as well as "DE" means that the content in your search will all be from your selected source extension -- here, from Germany.) Can you guess the country "IR" stands for? If you guessed Iran, you're right.
That's a great start. But if you do a search using the local extension, but your search results uses the USA name or term, then your results will probably still be more biased than they are enlightening. Try looking up the name the locals use for the same event. For this task, Wikipedia is fine.
Keep in mind that it's already a significant filter, if you are only able to read publications in English. That makes eliminating or reducing other filters even more critical yet, that is, if you truly are interested in what people in other countries are thinking and writing about. And in the age of the Internet, it only makes sense to make use of filtering tools such as these, wouldn't you agree?
