Seven rules for maximizing your creativity

After my last article on experiencing creativity, there was a question in the resulting forum discussion about how to enter this highly creative flow state, the state where you lose all sense of time, your ego vanishes, and you become one with the task in front of you.  Is this peak creative state a rare chance event, or can it be achieved consistently?

For me the creative flow state is a common occurrence.  I usually enter this state several times a week, staying with it for hours at a time.  I’m able to routinely enjoy the flow state as long as I ensure the right conditions, which I’ll share with you in a moment.

My first memories of habitually entering this flow state date back to the early 80s when I was learning BASIC programming.  After school I’d rush through my homework in order to spend hours in front of my Atari 800 writing, testing, and tweaking programs just to see what the machine could do.  Sometime around 8pm I’d notice my hunger, realize that the family had already eaten dinner, and ask my mom, “Why didn’t you call me when dinner was ready?  I’m starving!”  She’d invariably claim to have called me 3-4 times, usually with me verbally acknowledging, “I’ll be there in a minute.”  Either I had no recollection of this happening, or it was like trying to recall a fuzzy dream memory.  Did she really call me, or did I imagine it?  I was so engrossed in my creative hobby that I became oblivious to what was going on around me.  If I did acknowledge my mom, it must have been an unconscious reaction.