Creatives have two kinds of working: open mode and closed mode.

Open mode: A state of unfocused play where you discover new ideas.

Closed mode: A state of focused work where you work towards a specific outcome.

Like breathing, you inhale in open mode and exhale in closed mode.
The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn’t take open mode seriously. But that’s because closed mode is easier to define, and therefore, easier to write about.

Here’s how John Cleese of Monty Payton write about it.

(h/t @simonsarris)
The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn’t take open mode seriously. But that’s because closed mode is easier to define, and therefore, easier to write about. Here’s how John Cleese of Monty Payton write about it.(h/t @simonsarris)
The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn’t take open mode seriously. But that’s because closed mode is easier to define, and therefore, easier to write about. Here’s how John Cleese of Monty Payton write about it.(h/t @simonsarris)
The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn’t take open mode seriously. But that’s because closed mode is easier to define, and therefore, easier to write about. Here’s how John Cleese of Monty Payton write about it.(h/t @simonsarris)
A couple years ago, @michael_nielsen said to me: “Being distracted is underrated as a goal. Being productive is overrated as a goal. Almost all the best ideas come out of being distracted and unproductive.”

Open and closed mode is a good articulation of why that’s insightful.
In closed mode, you walk the dog.

But in open mode, the dog walks you.

Because of that, you have to surrender to the randomness of the world and listen for the seeds of creativity. They start as intuitions, and like a flower in the early spring, they take time to blossom.
The over-optimized life is not worth living because it only values closed mode.
The mathematician Richard Hamming wrote about the tension between keeping your door open vs. keeping it closed.

He said: On any given day, you'll get more done if you work with the door closed. But over the long arc of time, you'll achieve more if you work with the door open.
Our best ideas rarely come alive in busyness. They spring to life in aimless contemplation. In open mode, you find inspiration. And in closed mode, you harvest that inspiration.

I wrote everything up in a mini-essay below. https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1345072643381321731?s=20
You can follow @david_perell.
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