Why most of us aren't penning novels in lockdown 🖋️
Are you also finding it tough to do creative work from your home?
Forced confinement and fewer assignments than usual - sounds like the ideal time to get started on a big creative project like writing a book, right? That’s not how things have been panning out for most of us, though. Because we already have our hands full with caring responsibilities, finding paid assignments or because, you know, a crisis isn’t precisely the best incentive for huge professional achievements.
I do secretly wish that I were writing a book at the moment, but if we’re being honest I’ve got to say I’m finding it harder than ever to be creative. Working from home, from the same desk and under the same circumstances every day, I’ve noticed that I’m finding completing some tasks easier than others. Sending emails and writing out scripts for webinars? Done. But writing a column or short story? I just can’t. 🤯
It’s made me realise that - like many freelancers - I am combining lots of different types of work and that the home workspace I’m currently tied to isn’t fit for all of these. Before the lockdown, going to a coffee bar or library with my laptop felt like a superfluous luxury. Watching other people, half listening in on their conversations, the furniture and coffee cups being different from my own - these things struck me as nice perks.
This should be an ergonomic crime I know, but I wrote more pages of my book from this café than from any other spot.
Now that I work from home every day, I’m realising that there was a purpose to my changing workspaces. To think creatively and to work on a task in a concentrated fashion are two separate things - and it makes sense that we would favour different environments for those different tasks. The place where we deal with our inbox, deadlines and paperwork is rarely the setting that brings our most unrestrained and wildest propositions to the surface.
Research from the University of Chicago has moreover demonstrated that ambient noise, the kind you hear in a train or coffee shop, stimulates creativity. Extreme silence, on the other hand, sharpens your focus - a good thing when you’re studying, but that focus can also get in the way of creative thinking. So it may be beneficial to leave your habitual work environment for a bit if you want to get some creative work done. But how can you do that when you are forced to work from home?
You could create a sort of safe zone for creative work in your house, one where your thoughts are allowed to roam freely. A place that isn’t your habitual desk. A place where you don’t have to do much besides sitting down and thinking.
Below are a few tips and tricks to achieve this, with varying levels of difficulty:
Are the walls closing in on you? Place your desk against a different wall. It may seem ridiculous, but I sometimes do this and it helps me make the switch between creative and focused work modes.
If you really want to go extra, you could build an indoor, adult-sized tent where you can brainstorm, craft and write. I haven’t tried this myself, so I’d love to hear how you get on if you decide to bring out the sheets and clothes pegs! ⛺
The New York Public Library has published a recording of the ambient noise in its reading room. Click the repeat button, close your eyes and it’s as if you’re in the library. Two-hundred thousands listeners have gone before you.
Does all this strike you as a bit nuts? Sure, that may well be the case. But research from the UK shows that employees who were given the opportunity to decorate their workspace themselves with plants and photos reported higher levels of well-being and productivity than those who weren’t offered the chance of doing so. And that’s good news for freelancers. Because no-one is going to stop you from going all out in your attempt to create a workspace that works for you and the projects that are keeping you busy.
I’d love to hear how your work environment influences the way you work.
Speak soon,
Selma
What I’m reading, watching, listening to this week:
The corona crisis may spell the end of the much-hated open-floor office.
A friend and reader of The Friendly Freelancer has started writing about their first steps investing money. Head over to their new blog and hit ‘like’!
What our readers are saying:
“On some days I do yoga with an app, I bike 65km, I cook three (!) Ottolenghi recipes and I order books from the Passa Porta bookstore. On other days, I read news reports from my bed until my battery dies. I don’t even leave the house. I play Sims deep into the night. I find myself too tired to make a 10-minute phone call. But I don’t feel bad about this any more during this lockdown. I’m even enjoying this supposed idling. I don’t think I’ve felt this quiet in a long time.” - Anonymous response from a freelancer to The lockdown has reminded me why I became a freelancer ⏰
“I have to honestly say that I usually read the newsletters I receive in my inbox cursorily, or don’t open them at all. But Linda A. Thompson and Selma Franssen recently launched The Friendly Freelancer, a newsletter for freelancers. I’ve read them all from start to finish until now. The letters offer useful tips, words of encouragement and at the same time are a light-hearted and easy read. This has all been especially welcome during this lockdown. Freelancing means living with insecurity, but here is the certainty that you will at least get a good newsletter in your inbox every two weeks. TLDR: read the past newsletters and subscribe! 🌸” - Freelancer Inke Gieghase
This newsletter was written by Selma Franssen. Selma is a Dutch freelance journalist living in Brussels. She is the author of Vriendschap in tijden van eenzaamheid and has written for Charlie Magazine, OneWorld, De Morgen, De Standaard, The New Statesman, Bustle, Knack, VPRO and Newsweek.
You’ll hear from Linda A. Thompson in two weeks, a Belgian freelance journalist specialised in covering corporate tax and social injustice. She’s written for Bloomberg Law, Deutsche Welle, OZY, International Politics & Society, USA Today, IJNet, Underpinned and Equal Times.