To many creators, the idea of systems being helpful, let alone essential to creativity is anathema.

There’s a deeply ingrained belief in many of us that the purest form of creativity — the kind the produces the most transcendent work with the most depth — can only come from sudden, sporadic bursts of inspiration.

Systems evoke images of factories and assembly lines, decidedly uncreative work, and as a result, we find ourselves rejecting the basic concept of systems on principal.

But there are many types of systems, some of which can greatly lubricate the creative process and allow us to get to the crux of what we’re trying to say with our work faster.

These systems can be set up within our creative process itself or to simplify the rest of our lives and make more space for our creativity to thrive.

When I used to write and record music, I had a highly systematized folder structure on my computer. I had a system for storing my instruments and recording equipment so that within two minutes of having an idea, I could be recording it and working on it.

These were all organizational systems that enabled me to bypass what had previously been a tedious setup process that often resulted in the idea dying while I was busy finding and plugging in microphones, cables, hard drives, and so on.

These days, when it comes to writing my daily blog posts, I have a similar system of digital organization, wherein I can sit down at my computer first thing in the morning and have everything I need to get started writing ready to go, laid out the night before.

Systems can be routines, practices, organizational structures, or automation that minimizes the tedium that can often accompany certain parts of the creative process.

I have automation set up to continually publish and promote my favourite articles, for example, something that I know I won’t set aside the time to do on my own.

There are always going to be the parts of the creative process that we thrive on, and those that we put off due to lack of time, expertise, or interest.

When it comes to building systems that enable your creativity, it’s not about creating assembly lines to duplicate your past work.

Rather, it’s about creating systems to minimize your time spent in the aspects you don’t enjoy, and freeing up more time, space, and energy to do the work only you can do.

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