On the tube, on the way to appear at the Beyond Words literary festival this morning, I saw an advertisement for mobile phone service provider Orange in conjunction with Blackberry.
‘Take … all … the … unproductive … gaps … out … of … your … day’ it read.
No, NO, NO!
This is worse than wrong. When I’m not writing popular science books, I give training in creativity to large companies. Over the years I’ve asked people where they have good ideas. I’ve had all sorts of responses. In the car, walking the dog, in the bath, on a park bench… but hardly ever at the desk, in the office. Yet Orange/Blackberry want us to have our desk hanging round our necks like a yoke at all times.
To be more productive, don’t take a fancy mobile phone with you, just take a walk with a small notebook (pen and paper, not PC) or a voice recorder. Tied to your Blackberry, you will work – but you will only be doing mindless admin. Those ‘unproductive gaps’ are essential times to think.
It may take some practice – creativity doesn’t come naturally to many of us – take a look at the information part of my creativity website for some suggestions on ways to get better at it – but it’s worth the effort.
Now I live in Cromer, with my office in London, I spend around four hours a day on a train, three times a week. Over the summer I used this time to write a novel (called By The Sea, which you can read here). But all my best ideas come when I’m sitting on the loo.