Ideas scarcity
jasonleow • 7 Mar 2024 •
People say “I don’t have ideas” etc. And I think sometimes it can be just your environment. If I am traveling a lot, and am in loud and hot environments with lots of people, and moving around all the time my brain goes in survival mode and there’s zero creativity or ideas, I just become an NPC. Now I’m in a silent place again, good temperature, not too hot, and my brain is relaxed and instantly I get ideas again and want to make stuff. So I think environment can affect your creativity a lot, if the environment is bad you brain will just shut down. My bet is most/many people are in very bad environments and constantly in fight or flight mode just trying to get through the day/week so aren’t able to be creative at all for that reason – @levelsio
Right now I’m trying to build new products, but I drawing blanks whenever I ask myself “So what’s next?” In fact, this state of idea scarcity seems to be an ongoing problem for the past 4 years.
Since the pandemic.
Since the economy went down.
Since the consultancy gigs from government dried up.
Since my financial runway shortened to anxiety-inducing levels.
Since the sleep deprivation from the early days of caring for a baby.
Since the constant distraction of working from home with a young child.
It’s been mostly fight, flight or freeze mode for the past few years.
No wonder I have no ideas! No wonder I feel this low grade burnout that’s constantly in the background. No wonder I struggle yet am functional.
What can one do to recover from all that? Genuine question.
Comments
Yes I guess there were good things too. But we’re more hardwired to remember the bad stuff… knowing that cognitively seems to be not enough.
That’s the part that sucks. All our past traumas live in our heads, but our brains sure love to carry them around. How do I train my mind to either let go of the bad, focus on the good, or—the ultimate trick—stop labeling my thoughts as good or bad? Shruggy man says ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Does it seem like negative imagery is more salient than positive imagery? Did good things happen over the past 4 years? If you think about good times are they crowded out by the bad? In other words, would it help to meditate on positive imagery?