The accidental creative
by Todd Henry · first published 2011
5mentions
2recommended by
2HN commenters
2014–2021first – last mentioned
100% recommend
Outlines a method for tapping one's creative potential in order to generate ideas without undue stress, providing coverage of such strategies as beginning with an end goal in mind, and managing energy efficiently.
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…Newport, very well done. It's been a while since I read Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt, but the article feels familiar with that, as well (I recall a helpful section on meditation). The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry is another great resource. Newport's sources showed that most people are capable of about four hours of deep work per day. If you hit that level, add in 2-3 hours of shallower tasks, and…
on “How I got to 200 productive hours a month” ↗…But I do think the core premise is a sound one, although I still wouldn't recommend getting a liberal arts education. If you are looking for a more convincing argument, try Todd Henry's book from the Accidental Creative, Bob Rice's book on chess and business or a few episodes of Barbara Oakley's Coursera course.
on “To write better code, read Virginia Woolf” ↗Shop Class As Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford completely changed and focused how I think about work and mental healthy. The Accidental Creative and Die Empty by Todd Henry provide excellent tools and background for adding practical discipline to creative work and life in general. As of now I can't prioritize one over the other. Either or both…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗It's a good insight that other systems may complement GTD for driving deep creative focus. Todd Henry covers this very well, both conceptually and tactically, in his book The Accidental Creative. He offers a flexible set of practices that work together as a system to help you put your money where your mouth is in terms of what you say is important in your creative work and how you spend your…
on “GTD sucks for creative work. Here’s an alternative system” ↗…on every topic. In terms of concrete techniques for creativity, there's a couple books on this subject that might interest you -- Messy by Tim Harford [0], The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry. Harford talks about stuff like cross-pollination, with the idea that well-known solutions for one medium could be considered breakthroughs in a different context. Pressfield talks about…
on “Ask HN: How can I get better at original thinking and being creative?” ↗