Don't Let Stress Fuel Your Creativity

Waiting until the last minute isn’t a healthy or productive way to produce your best stuff, whether that stuff is professional or artistic in nature. Some people swear by the, “Oh shoot, my deadline is in three hours; I better get cookin'” method. As musician Dan Deacon explained this week to NPR, that’s just no way to live your life. He compares it to “building a house and lighting a fire in the basement just to see if [you] can finish the roof before it burns down [the] whole house.” Instead, Deacon has a unique take on getting the creative juices flowing — draw your inspiration from boredom:

“I started realizing how important it is to truly relax, and in relaxing, to be bored. You have to be bored. If you’re not bored, your mind is never gonna wander, and if your mind never wanders, you’re never gonna get lost in thought, and you’re never gonna find yourself thinking things you wouldn’t have otherwise thought.”

Deacon’s thoughts on inspiration are similar to those famously espoused by the prolific mystery writer Agatha Christie, who declared idleness, not necessity, to be the mother of invention.