Creative Signal-Jamming and How to Counter It

Boredom is boring. It feels painful. At the slightest twinge of it, our brain screams for relief.

Perhaps that's why so many companies exist to entertain us. Constantly. No need to wait in line—here’s a video. No need to drive in silence—take your pick from this podcast, audiobook, or album. Going to the bathroom? Don’t just sit there, take TikTok with you!

It seems our mission is to eradicate boredom in our lives as if it were a plague.

But is boredom a plague? Or could it be a hidden wellspring of creativity?

Why is it that so many creatives say they get their best ideas in the shower?

Billy Joel tells the story of how he came up with the style and feel of his song “River of Dreams.” On a break from work, he hopped into the shower. And while scrubbing his shampoo, he started playfully singing nonsense syllables, in a fashion that ended up being his creative breakthrough for that swinging, punchy hook of “In-the-middle-of-the, I-go-walkin’-in-the...”

What if Billy Joel had had a bluetooth speaker in his shower, and listened to an audiobook rather than letting his creative mental environment linger?

Music, podcasts, audiobooks, radio, mobile videos. These are amazing inventions that can bring real joy and value to our lives. But when you want to cultivate a creative practice, you must limit them.

When you’re working on a creative project, and you fill in your mundane gaps with external inputs, you create interference with your own creative flow.

I call this "creative signal-jamming."

In radio communication, signal jamming works by producing intentional interference with a wireless signal in order to block or disrupt transmission. This is typically done by emitting radio frequency signals on the same frequency as the target communication system.

In other words, cluttering your creative flow with other creative projects on the same frequency can blot out your own creative signal.

Here’s one simple change to make to counter signal jamming.

At least once per day, choose one activity or event where your mind is free from external inputs.

Go on an errand and leave your phone at home. Drive in silence. Just do the dishes. Walk the dog sans AirPods. Drink your coffee and simply let your mind wander.

At first, anytime you choose boredom over signal jamming will benefit you. But here are two times that are especially good to let your mind wander, free of inputs:

First thing in the morning. Instead of rolling out of bed and into your phone, keep your mind free of inputs for the first half hour (or longer) and decide when you want to let the world in. Charge your phone in a different room, not at your bedside.
Immediately after a creative work session. The worst thing you can do is to end a creative work session—writing, composing, painting, designing—and immediately put AirPods in. Mornings and post-work sessions are the peak times your brain is primed for creativity. Let it breathe.

Also, always keep a journal close by. It can be your phone if it has to, but a small pocket journal is better. Writing in a journal not only allows you to capture your insights and clarifies your thinking.

What should you do during these stretches of mundanity? Let your mind wander. Let your mind play. Let your mind go into free-association mode and daydream.

Keep your creative frequency open by engaging with the mundane on purpose.

You can start today.

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What do you think? Do you resonate with the idea of creative signal-jamming? What strategies have worked for you to counter it? Leave a comment below.

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Creative Process Newsletter, by Mark Samples

Mark Samples

Writer, Musician, Musicologist

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