There’s only one thing about being creative that’s difficult – creativity. It’s all very well thinking up great ideas, or having the urge to get out your pen or paints, but the gap between thought and action can seem like a chasm. There’s always something more important – or easier – to do instead. It makes sense, then, to play to your strengths. To pinpoint precisely when you should write, draw, sculpt… whatever moves you. Defining a window for creativity at the optimum point in your day means you’re more likely to get something done.
This is where working with your creativity bird helps. Your creativity bird dictates the time of day when you’re at your most productive. It could be early morning, late at night or somewhere in-between. The concept of the lark and the owl is nothing new, but you might not have consciously applied these to your creativity. And perhaps you don’t fit either category – and that’s okay, because there will be a time of day that works best for you.
Are you more alert first thing in the morning or last thing before bed? Do you prefer the hush of the grey pre-dawn, when you feel like the world belongs to you? Then you might be a lark. Or perhaps you have more energy late at night? Once you sense the surrounding world slumber, you start to wake up. It’s safer here, enveloped by the dark, and you can bathe in your creativity. In which case, you’re probably an owl.
But maybe you’re different. Perhaps you’re a robin. A robin’s an all-dayer. You’re better in mid-morning and mid-afternoon, when there’s industry around you, and you can slip into that, cocooning yourself in your creative world. If you’re at your best in a café, surrounded by the buzz of chatter but able to work undisturbed, this might be you.
Of course, you might be none of these. Instead, your creative juices rise once the day starts to turn. As sunset pearls across the sky and the day job is done, you stretch out your wings and begin to sing. If that’s so, you’re a creative nightingale and you come alive with the dusk.
Top of the tree
Unfortunately, bird hierarchy is quite the thing in the human world. Mostly it’s around owl-shaming. Larks, with their coffees and sunrises, are seen as doing it properly, while owls, staying up until the same sunrise, are hedonists and lazybones. But there’s no right or wrong here. If you feel like death in the mornings and energised at night, that’s just the way it is. Creating when you’re at your best, and not giving yourself a hard time for doing so, is a valid reason for embracing your inner owl.
Being true to yourself means you’ll be happier as you create, and it will enable you to be more productive and come up with great ideas. Of course, staying up late or getting up extra early might not be possible, but recognising that there’s no right or wrong way to be is important.
How to work with your creativity bird
You might think you know instinctively which bird you are – but is there another that fits you better? Perhaps you’re currently a robin for convenience, but deep down you’re really a lark. Maybe the reason a particular time doesn’t work well for you isn’t to do with your natural rhythm but other factors. Even if you can’t work with your best bird, discover what it is, and then work out your second and third birds too.
Then, if you’re able to, set aside two sessions every week when you’ll try working in tune to your creativity bird. Be intentional about it – don’t wait for the muse to strike. If you’re a nightingale who occasionally has an evening free to work on a creative project, that’s great, but if you can carve out regular time for it, your novel, artwork or composition is more likely to bloom.
Make the time you think you can spare. Thirty minutes is an ideal minimum, but you can still do something creative in 15 minutes, even if it’s scribbling a sketch or looking at a poem. If you’re lucky enough to have more than an hour to call your own, still restrict yourself to less time all the same. This is especially important if you’re a procrastinator and are likely to spend 45 minutes of your hour surfing the internet and calling it research to assuage the guilt. Knowing you have only half-an-hour to create is a fantastic motivator, and you might find yourself not wanting to stop once you’ve started.
There is a neuroscientific theory that doing two actions together is more effective in building a long-term habit: ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together’ is how the work of Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb is often summarised. In practice, this is known as habit stacking. That means associating your creative time with making a favourite hot drink – one you only have in that situation – or switching on a particular lamp or sitting down in a certain chair. Add an easy routine alongside your creativity bird time and it’s more likely to stick.
Adapting to life
Could your creativity bird be antisocial? Definitely. For nightingales, removing yourself from family or friendship get-togethers two evenings a week puts a damper on things. Likewise, staying up until the early hours if you’re an owl might cause problems with your loved ones.
The answer, again, is to limit your time. Thirty minutes twice a week is more manageable than an all-night creative splurge. It might not be ideal, especially if you’re working on a big project, but it’s better than not doing it at all, or missing out on seeing loved ones and causing conflict at home.
There are times when you won’t be able to accommodate your creativity bird and that’s when it clashes with the rest of your life. Domestic obligations, being with children or a day job can all stymie your ideal schedule. This is especially hard for the robin and nightingale, who are at their best during the hours other people tend to be around. And if you’re a lark, it might be impossible to get up earlier than certain little people in your family.
If that’s you, then turn to your second or third bird. As a robin, you might groan at the thought of getting up earlier than you need before work – but if you can build a habit out of it, you might come to relish it. If you’re a nightingale, staying up late might feel all wrong, but tell yourself it’s only half an hour and see how you go. And if you only have time to create at an hour when your brain isn’t operating on all four cylinders, now you can understand why and accept that. If you’re working in an anti-bird hour and feeling totally uncreative, you can still use the time well by reading or looking over what you’ve done, editing rather than creating and being alone with your work.
At the end of the day – or at the beginning, or somewhere in the middle – knowing when you’re at your best can only help. Your bird will be there waiting when you’re able to pick up your creative tools once more and feel the wind beneath your wings.
Find your creativity bird
Lark, robin, nightingale, owl – which one are you?
1) What’s your morning routine?
a) I’m awake with the winter sunrise and dancing before the dawn.
b) I get going about 9am with a hot tea or coffee inside me.
c) I stumble around bleary-eyed until noon.
d) What’s morning?
2) What sound do you like best to accompany your creative work?
a) The dawn chorus.
b) The buzz of life.
c) The sweet sound of silence.
3) You have an important meeting at 11am. How do you feel?
a) I’d rather it was earlier, get it out of the way.
b) Great! Let’s do this.
c) Okay, but I’d rather it was later.
d) That’s way too early for something so important.
4) What’s your energy like in the evening?
a) Tired! I’m ready for bed.
b) Just picking up after the afternoon slump.
c) It’s when I get everything useful done.
d) I finally start to come alive.
5) What’s your favourite of these paintings?
a) Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet.
b) The Café-Concert by Edouard Manet.
c) Sunset by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
d) The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
Mostly As: You’re a lark. At your best in the pre-dawn, try getting up before 5am for a real creativity kick.
Mostly Bs: You’re a bobbin’ robin. Get creating by 9am and you’ll be at your best until midday.
Mostly Cs: A nightingale. Let the daytime take care of itself, but plan for a creative hour or two in the evening as the sun goes down.
Mostly Ds: You’re a night owl. If life prevents you from staying up until dawn, try a delicious hour or so once everyone else is in bed.
Stephanie is a writer and coach. She’s a robin who sometimes has to be a lark, and that’s okay. Follow more of her thoughts on Instagram @Stephanie_Lam_1