570 - The 3 Part Process I Use to Actually Get Creative Stuff Done
Creative Pep Talk
This episode explores a counterintuitive approach for creative individuals—especially those with ADHD or neurodivergent tendencies—to actually get their
Key takeaways
- Creative work thrives not on prioritization but on curiosity and interest-based exploration.
- The 'dog in your heart' metaphor illustrates how distractions are actually the point—sniffing, exploring, and tangents are essential to creative progress.
Main topics
- ADHD and neurodivergent creativity
- Interest-based vs. importance-based productivity
Notable quotes
You're not dragging them along. You're letting them do that because you realize if we let them do that, we don't have to go miles and miles and miles.
Conclusion
By embracing curiosity as the starting point, turning ideas into public challenges, and using external deadlines
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:04) The Speaker 2 (0:05) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 3 (0:15) The new Speaker 2 (0:20) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 1 (0:28) If I want to do so many things, why do I do so few things? Why do I constantly have to watch people? reap the benefits of ideas that I had five years ago but couldn't execute on. These are the frustrations that I have over and over in my life as a neurodivergent creative person with ADHD, but I have learned some things that have helped me along the way that have helped me publish over 10 books and show up and do this podcast every week for over 10 years and do personal projects that led to clients like Xbox and Apple. And in this episode, I want to share with you the counterintuitive way a creative brain has to get stuff done and it will help you work with your brain instead of against it and it'll help you see that you can't do things the normal or efficient way that trying to be efficient is just a waste of time. Stick until the end for our creative call to adventure something to do with these ideas it's called the sniff test and it will help transform the way that you accomplish things in the world and To do that, I first have to tell you about the 3C flywheel of getting stuff done creatively. And before that, I have to tell you about the dog that's living in your heart. All right, let's go. Speaker 3 (2:11) The Speaker 2 (2:11) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 3 (2:22) The new Speaker 2 (2:26) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 1 (2:36) So you have tried white knuckling it, brute forcing it to happen. You've tried to accomplish things because they're the important things to do and you end up doing nothing. And the reason is because you got that dog in you. right? And when I say that dog in you, I'm talking about the kind of dog that can't just go out and do a stroll and get some steps and go from point A to point B. It's got to stop at every... freaking rock and tree and junction and sniff around and wonder and explore every little freaking tangent when you're just trying to get around the block. That's the dog that I have in me. And that's really frustrating until you realize that those aren't distractions to the walk. Those are the freaking point. the walk and the same is true in your creative practice and it's a huge relief as a dog owner when you realize like oh their whole thing their whole world is sniffs their whole world is this curiosity and that's the point and if I let them do their thing we can get all of what they need in half the time and effort and that's great as a dog owner but it's even bigger as a creative person because when you realize that the tangents and the curiosities and the sniffs are the point of making the work, you will see that it changes everything. Speaker 1 (4:26) So if you're a dog owner or you're a dog lover, you probably have dogs on your algorithm in the short form video. And you've probably heard that like the point of a walk for a dog is to sniff like that. That's how they like the way that we take in the world is primarily through our eyes. Like 90 % of our brain is wired is like. involved in seeing because it's such a big part of being a human. For them, it's smelling. And the thing that they really need for their mental health on a walk is to take it in through smelling. And once you realize that. You're not dragging them along. You're letting them do that because you realize if we let them do that, we don't have to go miles and miles and miles. Like they're going to get everything they need by just going a couple blocks. And the same is true for your nervous system if you're a creative person. That's the thing that this switch was so huge for me because when I realized that I was ADHD, one of the big... components of that is that you don't have the neurotypical brain that's an importance-based nervous system that says, I'm going to set my priorities and do my actions based on what's important to me and what's important to others and what's crucial. That's what's going to get done. And so whether you're ADHD or not, if you're creative, creative stuff doesn't work like that. And when you're trying to accomplish something creative, I think all of us could take a lesson from how ADHD people need to get stuff done, which is an interest-based nervous system. And it starts with a curiosity. It starts with a sniff. It starts with, hmm, that's kind of interesting. I want to pull at that thread. And then if you pull at that thread, you can turn it into a challenge. Like, oh, I'm going to challenge myself to do, X amount of tests or experiments on this kind of thing. And then once you do that, then you can turn it into something you pitch or commit to and create a crucial deadline that will make you feel