Is your work a process? Or a journey? Tips for finding your balance.

“Ce n’était plus un sculpteur, c’était un prophète”

“He was not a sculptor, he was a prophet”

- Jacques-Émile Blanche on Rodin

What is the creative process for you? When you launch into a project is it with a clear vision? A plan? A well thought-out map to take you from start to finish?

Or do you just leap on in – and let the muses take you where they may?

Auguste Rodin, Danaid

I used to be the former. I had a plan (and a spreadsheet) for everything, whether it was work or a passion project. Even Informed Style existed on paper long before it came online, and I was convinced that launching without the site’s future planned out would be disasterous.

But over the last few months, I’ve begun to stray from that path. Whether with Informed Style or with my negotiation work, being prepared does wonders for the end result – but so does being able to step off of that path when circumstances change – or inspiration strikes.

Each day and each new project helps me refine this balance between ‘process’ and ‘journey’ – and I wanted to share some of my tips with you for finding your own.

If you see your work as a process

Planned Spontaneity Yes, this is an oxymoron. But sometimes the best way to start changing your approach is to take the first steps while still within your comfort zone. When plotting out your next project, identify 2 or 3 steps during which you’ll take a step back, reassess, and brainstorm alternate paths forward. It’s ok to have tunnel vision – as long as you’re able to see other options when they become available.

Let Loose If your baby-step into approaching your work as a journey went well…how about going all in? If you’re a writer, try setting aside your plot treatment and spending 30 minutes doing stream of consciousness journaling. It isn’t about a cohesive story, or perfect grammar – it’s about letting your brain take you where it pleases. If you’re a business owner who always follows the same procedures for something like inventory counts or, say, negotiation – throw the playbook out the window! Shed the rules and brainstorm a new way of handling things this time around. Experiment. See if you can get comfortable with that new freedom – and then embrace it.

If you see your work as a journey

Lesson Planning A good way to see the innate process in your work is to teach it to someone else. Even if you don’t have a real-live student at your disposal (though that could be fun!), the next time you start a project make notes. What materials are you gathering? What’s step 1? Try to think of it as putting together a recipe for your success. Even if you’re on a journey, I guarantee there’s a process behind it.

Complete, Study, Repeat Building on the recipe or lesson plan you’ve created, try it out for yourself. Instead of launching a new project – redo the last one. And then again. Each time, you’ll get more comfortable with following a process, rather than being spontaneous. In doing this, you’ll also get to experience one of the benefits of following a controlled process – your efficiency is likely to improve and the time it takes to complete the job will shrink. As you’re trying to scale up a business, this improved efficiency can translate to real impact to your bottom line.

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How do you like to work? Results oriented and process driven? Or do you look at work as an exploration or journey? What’s your balance?