"Constraints cultivate creativity"

If you're doing any sort of creative work whether it be writing, designing, drawing, etc., I'm a believer that adding constraints to your work is one of the best things you can do.

Constraints place limits on what you can produce which may seem counterintuitive. But from my experience, it actually makes it easier to keep showing up and taking action because there's less decisions to be made and options to work with.

For example, I do 99% of my graphic design in Canva and stick to a black and white aesthetic for most brand things to create a constraint.

These short daily essays are also a constraint. If I went with an approach of writing a full blog post every day that could be about any topic, I don't think I'd still be writing.

And sometimes constraints aren't placed on purpose. A constraint may be the current environment you're in or a lack of resources.

Constraints force you to work with what you have and I think by limiting your number of choices, it leads to more action.

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Essay #46 - 5.11.21