John Cleese on Creativity: Make Space and Time Boundaries

John Cleese speaking on Creativity Photo by Luc Van Braekel

“We don’t know where we get out ideas from. We do know we do not get them from our laptops. – John Cleese

Most people who work at home so some sort of creative work. Whether you are a free-lancer or a home-based entrepreneur you are problem-solving and thinking outside the box at least part of the time – that requires creative thinking.

On a recent blog post by Presentation Zen guru Garr Reynolds, I found this great 10 minute video of John Cleese talking about Creativity.  Garr Reynolds says you have to “get off the grid” to plan and create any audience-worthy presentation.  John Cleese tells us that interruptions and distractions can disrupt or even destroy your ability to think creativity or originally with any depth: you need to create boundaries of Space and Time.

Create Boundaries of Space by eliminating all distractions, especially electronic distractions.

  • Turn off your computer
  • Turn off your phone.
  • Leave your office, if need be, and sit in your back yard or a local park.

Create Boundaries of Time by setting up a start time and an end time for this un-interrupted focused work, and stick to it.  When your time is over, then you can check your phone and your computer

To view the video clip on Garr’s blog site: click on the link below and then scroll down a bit to the video link.

http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2010/09/presentation-a-few-minutes-with-john-cleese-on-creativity.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PresentationZen+%28Presentation+Zen%29

If you would like to learn more about handling distractions in the home office, you can buy my book The Smarter Home Office on Amazon.http://www.Amazon.com/dp/0984404503