One More Reason to Adopt a Minimalist Lifestyle
It boosts creativity
Conventional wisdom
According to conventional wisdom, having more choices means having more freedom; and having more freedom should, in turn, allow for more possibilities to be creative. For example, if you walk into an ice cream parlor with more than 30 flavors of ice cream, you will have many more possibilities to get creative with your combinations than you would if there were only six ice-cream flavors to choose from. But what most people don’t know is that self-perceived creativity is very different from outsider judgement of creativity. This means that you may think your ice cream choice is extremely creative while others may not see it as creative at all. The true measure of creativity should be how it is perceived by others in your external environment.
Moreover, did you ever notice how different you feel when you are choosing between too many options vs. just a few? Here are some things to think about; When faced with too many choices: do you feel anxious? Are you less likely to make a decision?
The paradox of choice
If you are a fan of The Paradox of Choice by “Barry Schwartz” you will be familiar with the premise that having more choice translates into less freedom and less satisfaction. This is mainly due to the fact that when faced with too many choices, people tend to focus more on “missed opportunities”. In other words, you will often be less satisfied with your choice when there were several others choices available because you will keep thinking of what you missed by not choosing the alternative.
Additionally, one more reason why more choice leads to less satisfaction according to Schwartz is that having too many choices will trick you into having higher expectations of the outcome, which will surely set you up for disappointment. For example, a common misconception when buying a pair of jeans is that you will always find “the perfect fit” because there are unlimited options available and there must be one that is just right for you. What tends to happen in most cases is that you won’t find the pair that fits you “perfectly” and you will drive home very disappointed. If you had less choices to begin with, you would have more reasonable expectations and probably find a pair of jeans that fits well enough.
Creativity
So, what does all this have to do with creativity?
According to a study by the Harvard Business Review , applying constraints to any given project will foster creativity. Constraints are external factors that limit your choices in any given scenario. Thus, having less choice is indeed beneficial to creative & innovative thinking. This idea of applying constraints to boost creativity may be counter-intuitive to most readers. People tend to think that less choice means having less options for innovation. However, contrary to popular belief, applying constraints allows for more focus, and provides a more challenging atmosphere which motivates creativity. More importantly, having choice constraints encourages innovators to avoid the-path-of-least-resistance and to come up with more creative, less intuitive ideas to solve a given problem. Therefore, adopting a minimalist mindset may have a positive impact on creativity provided the right amount of constraints is applied.
Caution
Before rushing off to eliminate your choices, it is important to note that having too many constraints may have a negative effect on creativity. For example, if you have too many constraints to solve a given problem, it may interfere with your decision-making autonomy. This slightly complicates things, but there is a way around it; through practice. By practicing having different levels of choice and seeing how it affects other people’s perception of your creativity you can easily determine your creative sweet spot. For example try limiting your choice of clothes and take note of how creative other people think your outfit is. By varying the number of self-imposed constraints and keeping a log of how others perceive your creativity, you can easily find the right number that works well for you. Other ways to practice this can be by limiting your choice of ingredients when cooking a meal, or shopping at smaller stores with limited options. Some people find that when practicing this exercise, having minimal choice will increase their enjoyment and boost their creativity.
