Is Less Really More in Creative Work?

Less is more, or so the saying goes. But what if the reverse were true? What if, in terms of creative work, more could also mean less?

Series of pieces produced during 365 artwork-a-day © Cherry Jeffs 2011

I've been pondering on this question ever since I read a post by Katie aka The Wellness Mama on Copyblogger earlier in the week where she describes writing her almost-daily blogposts in an hour. An hour? This is a level of productivity I can only dream of.

Yet Katie is the mother of five children, the oldest of which is seven whom she homeschools. Despite - or perhaps because of these intensive responsibilities - she manages to write four to five blogposts a week (and cook three meals a day from scratch).

Given that I can easily spend five hours a week writing two blogposts, (lately I've cut back to one precisely because two take up too much time) it seems that by having such a regular blogging routine, Katie is actually saving time!

I'm reminded of the year when I created 365 pieces of art, essentially one each day. It's the most prolific I've ever been and I can't help thinking that the necessity of finishing a piece of art in a short time every day made me a lot more efficient with my process. No time for umming and ahhing when you only have an hour at the easel!

Tasks really do seem to expand to fill the time available so committing to a regular and very strict timescale may, in the long run, actually save us time. Or at least give us relatively more value for the same time.

More on Creative Productivity

• READ: Notebooks App Review - how to use this app for a faster, efficient blogging workflow and free up time to make art.
• LISTEN: to the mOnk and I talking about productivity on our Craving Distraction Content Creators podcast.

listen to ‘Morning Productivity Habits - or not?’ on audioBoom

• COMMENT: What do you think? Might more sometimes mean less? Share your thoughts in the comments.