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I think it's actually more causal than you first give it credit for. I think creativity cultures a certain laziness for that person. From observing my friends

by NamTaf 12y ago

I think it's actually more causal than you first give it credit for. I think creativity cultures a certain laziness for that person. From observing my friends and I, my anecdata suggests that the most creative are on average more lazy because they can use their creativity as a clutch to make up for a relative lack of hard work. The other intelligent but less creative individuals must suppliment that with grinding away more time on the problems. The creative lazy people also tend to be more 'hot and cold' than consistent, because if they rely on creativity but it doesn't fire then they end up falling short. Consistent hard work is more reliable, but takes more effort and doesn't necessarily produce as high peaks (though in doing so, avoids as low troughs)

_red 12y ago
I was going to say that: More often than not in life we find our greatest strengths are enablers for our greatest weaknesses.
Retra 12y ago
Hard work can also just be mentally exhausting, and it's much easier to just wait for a proper creative mood than to struggle for who-knows-how-long trying to do something you know you can easily do with far less effort at a later time.
- ryan-allen 12y ago
  I read the book end to end, reviewed in this post (which was on HN ages ago): http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/04/23/daily-rituals-mason-currey/ http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/04/23/daily-rituals-mason-... It's about great people and how they structured their days. What seems to be fairly consistent was that they were often 'on and off' as well, but to try to ensure that they did actually get work done consistently was to work a) every day and b) not for too long. So each day wasn't a slog like the usual 9 to 5 treadmill, but each day gave them enough space to get some of their best work done and have enough rest to be able to do it every day of the week, every day of the year.
  - fenomas 12y ago
    Raymond Chandler had an interesting take on this. Basically he set aside four or five hours each day, during which he did not have to write, but he was not allowed to do anything else constructive. He could lay around or stare out the window, but no reading or paying bills - it was write or do nothing. Everything else, he said, came of itself.

by NamTaf 12y ago

_red 12y ago

I was going to say that: More often than not in life we find our greatest strengths are enablers for our greatest weaknesses.

Retra 12y ago

Hard work can also just be mentally exhausting, and it's much easier to just wait for a proper creative mood than to struggle for who-knows-how-long trying to do something you know you can easily do with far less effort at a later time.

ryan-allen 12y ago
I read the book end to end, reviewed in this post (which was on HN ages ago): http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/04/23/daily-rituals-mason-currey/ http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/04/23/daily-rituals-mason-... It's about great people and how they structured their days. What seems to be fairly consistent was that they were often 'on and off' as well, but to try to ensure that they did actually get work done consistently was to work a) every day and b) not for too long. So each day wasn't a slog like the usual 9 to 5 treadmill, but each day gave them enough space to get some of their best work done and have enough rest to be able to do it every day of the week, every day of the year.
- fenomas 12y ago
  Raymond Chandler had an interesting take on this. Basically he set aside four or five hours each day, during which he did not have to write, but he was not allowed to do anything else constructive. He could lay around or stare out the window, but no reading or paying bills - it was write or do nothing. Everything else, he said, came of itself.