PDF Summary:Keep Going, by Austin Kleon

How can you stay creative despite feeling stressed, burnt out, or inadequate? In Keep Going, poet and visual artist Austin Kleon provides methods for overcoming emotional obstacles to creativity. He suggests an approach to creativity that finds joy in the process of making art, rather than the external rewards it might bring you. In addition, Kleon provides a number of work and lifestyle tips for not only making creative work but also feeling good about the work you make.

In this guide, we’ll explore Kleon’s three main principles for overcoming emotional obstacles to creativity and the methods he suggests for following each principle. We also provide the psychological research behind Kleon’s suggestions and alternative perspectives on creativity from other authors and artists.

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(Shortform note: In addition to helping you stay in the present, taking things one day at a time can also help reduce stress in the future. Dale Carnegie (How to Stop Worrying and Start Living) explains that worrying about the future or being angry about the past takes up time and energy. If you instead use that extra time and energy on your work in the present, you’ll get more done and therefore will have less to do (and less to be stressed about) later on.)

To approach your life and work one day at a time, Kleon suggests you create consistent routines.

Create Routines

By creating a daily routine, you provide order and structure to your day. This allows you to better manage your time and energy since you’ll know how much you currently have and how much you’ll need later on in the day. In addition, the order and structure of a routine allow you to focus more on what you’re doing in each moment since you won’t have to think about what to do next.

To create a daily routine that helps you stay creative, Kleon recommends you consider where in the day you have extra time or energy, and dedicate that time and energy to creative work and various habits that stimulate creativity (habits that we’ll discuss throughout the rest of this guide).

(Shortform note: While routines can stimulate creativity, occasionally breaking them can provide even more inspiration—legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett is a good example of this. Jarrett famously was a perfectionist in his routines, meticulously planning every aspect of his concerts and the time leading up to them. However, one night he came onstage and discovered the piano he was supposed to play was low-quality and damaged. He initially refused to play, but eventually relented and performed—the recording of which is the best-selling jazz piano concert of all time. Some experts suggest that a break in routine helped Jarrett succeed by forcing him to approach his work in a new and unique way, inspiring incredible creativity.)

Making Your Best Routine

You might be wondering how you can set up a routine best suited to your individual schedule and needs. Nir Eyal (Indistractable) provides three questions you can answer to craft a better, more stable routine for yourself:

• What is or isn’t working in my current schedule? Answering this question helps you recognize where you might need to spend more or less time in a day.

• How do I pursue my values? Decide on the values that matter most to you or who you want to be: For example, you might value empathy and creativity. Once you’ve identified your values, commit more time and energy to activities that align with those values and less time and energy into activities that don’t.

• How do I balance my responsibilities? Eyal identifies three main life responsibilities: self-care, relationships, and work. Consider how much of your day you want and need to dedicate to each and adjust your daily routine accordingly.

Guideline #2: Make a Creative Space

Staying in the moment isn’t just about what you do on a given day—it’s also about where you do it. Kleon suggests you can help keep yourself in the moment by using a specific place for your creative work. Ideally, this space should allow you to block out external distractions and stimulate your creativity.

(Shortform note: In addition to simply having a separate creative workspace, psychological research suggests that there are many benefits of having control over the design of this space. Studies found that those who can design their own workspaces aren’t just more creative—they also tend to be happier, healthier, and more productive.)

He says the ideal creative space has two main qualities: solitary silence and creative messiness.

Solitary Silence

Your creative space should allow you to be alone in a quiet place. When you no longer have to focus on external stimulation, you can focus on internal stimulation: your creative thoughts.

(Shortform note: Kleon’s suggestion for a quiet and solitary workplace doesn’t take into account that creative work is often collaborative. Spaces like television writers’ rooms, movie studios, or theatrical productions require lots of people working together rather than solo artists working by themselves. This suggests that quiet time alone isn’t always the best way to stimulate creativity.)

Creative Messiness

Kleon explains that there’s a level of messiness that’s just right for creativity: If it’s too messy, you won’t be able to find what you need for your work. On the other hand, if it’s too tidy, you can’t find creative inspiration from the various unrelated things in a messy space. When your space gets too messy and you tidy up, pay attention to everything you come across—looking through old forgotten things can inspire new ideas.

(Shortform note: Psychological research supports Kleon’s idea that a balance between messiness and tidiness is ideal—one study found that while tidiness is correlated with healthier, more generous decision making, messiness is correlated with creativity. This suggests that a “just right” approach of balancing messiness and tidiness allows you to better approach a multitude of situations.)

Guideline #3: Slow Down

Kleon’s third guideline for staying in the moment is slowing down the rate at which you receive information. This will make it easier to focus on the present instead of thinking about what comes next.

(Shortform note: Kleon mostly talks about slowing down in terms of thought and information, but psychologists suggest that slowing down your physical actions can also reduce anxiety. A common example of this phenomenon is breathing exercises: focusing on taking slow, deep breaths to reduce anxiety.)

Kleon provides two methods for slowing down your life: exploring the mundane and limiting your news and media intake.

Explore the Mundane

You don’t need to have bizarre or unique life circumstances to create excellent art, explains Kleon. Instead, you just have to take time to look at what’s already around you—things that have become mundane or commonplace. When you take a closer look at the seemingly mundane objects, places, and things around you, you’ll gain new ideas and experiences that stimulate your creativity while also staying in the moment.

To explore the mundane, Kleon suggests that you sketch objects you see in the world or go for a walk outside and pay close attention to what you see or experience. These activities allow you to take additional time looking at things you’d otherwise ignore.

(Shortform note: While Kleon mostly talks about exploring the mundane through visual means like drawing, psychologists suggest you use all five senses to interact with the world around you—doing so actually stimulates creativity more. For instance, smell and taste strongly connect to our memories, allowing us to make creative connections. Hearing quiet ambient noise can also help inspire creativity. This research suggests that creatively connecting to the world around you should be a multi-sensory experience.)

Limit Your News and Media Intake

Slowing down also means creating boundaries around when you interact with the news and social media. Kleon recommends dedicating a specific time of day or time of the week to reading the news and checking up on the outside world. That way, you can stay informed without needing to constantly face the overwhelming and upsetting stories commonly found in the news.

(Shortform note: In addition to managing when you read the news, psychologists suggest you can avoid feeling overwhelmed by managing how you read the news. Avoiding unnecessary graphic detail, balancing positive and negative stories, and reading the news instead of watching it can all reduce the amount of stress you feel when catching up with the outside world.)

Principle #3: Live a Healthy Creative Life

After discussing why and how you should pursue creativity, Kleon talks about the interaction between creativity and life as a whole and how you can make this interaction positive and healthy. This interaction is important because one benefits the other:

• A healthy life keeps you motivated and interested in your creative work, preventing burnout or feeling overwhelmed.
• Healthy creative work makes your life and the lives of others more positive by providing emotional or intellectual inspiration.

(Shortform note: Psychological research supports Kleon’s argument that your overall lifestyle and creativity impact each other. One study showed that higher creativity correlated with higher “intrinsic motivation” in life: wanting to do things out of love for the action itself. Based on this and other studies, some psychologists argue that actively working to stimulate creativity throughout your life is crucial for finding meaning or purpose in the things you do.)

Kleon provides three methods for living a healthy creative life: choosing life over creative work, embracing change, and accepting where you are.

Method #1: Choose Life Over Creative Work

To ensure healthy interaction between your creativity and your life at large, Kleon says you have to choose a healthy life over good creative work. Art should have a net positive impact on the world, both in how it affects others and in how it affects its creator. He specifically argues against the idea of a “tortured artist”—someone who causes suffering to themselves or the people around them in pursuit of creative work. Being a good and ethical human being is more important than making quality creative work.

(Shortform note: You might be wondering what it means to make creative work that has a “net positive impact” on the world. Elizabeth Gilbert (Big Magic) clarifies what this positive impact might look like: She argues that you shouldn’t feel like your creative work has to help other people—art that’s true to your experience is worthy, even if it doesn’t lead to concrete change. From this perspective, the positive impact of creative work can be entirely personal.)

Method #2: Embrace Change

To stimulate creativity, you have to be willing to embrace, confront, or accept new ideas in your life. By opening yourself up to the option of changing your mind or understanding alternative perspectives, you’ll also be more open to new creative ideas and experiences.

Embrace change in your life by talking to people with opinions and life experiences that differ from your own. Be aware that doing this in a productive way requires engaging with people who recognize your good intentions and don’t judge you for your ideas—otherwise, you won’t feel comfortable or open to new perspectives and experiences. To find alternative opinions productively, Kleon suggests talking to people who disagree with you but still respect you and want to hear what you have to say.

(Shortform note: The idea of being open to changing your values might make you uncomfortable—Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck) suggests that this discomfort is a necessary part of the process. Being open to change, says Manson, requires confronting uncertainty about what you believe in and facing potential pushback from people around you who don’t share your new values. So take comfort in your discomfort—it’s a sign that you’re on the right track.)

Method #3: Accept Where You Are

You can’t control how and when you’re creative, explains Kleon—you just have to learn to accept where your head is, creatively speaking. Everyone encounters and experiences creativity differently—don’t judge yourself as a failure if you go through a creative dry spell or don’t become wildly successful at a young age. Judging yourself when you’re not at your creative best means you’ll regularly suffer feelings of inadequacy.

To accept where you are, Kleon suggests that you learn to recognize the times in a day, week, month, or year when you are or are not creative. Then, you can work with those creative rhythms instead of judging them as “wrong” or “not good enough.” Persist, don’t get discouraged, and keep going.

(Shortform note: For practical advice on creative acceptance, Elizabeth Gilbert (Big Magic) suggests that you actually speak out loud about your right to make art. Simply saying, “I am an artist,” or, “I am a writer” acts as a helpful reminder that you can and do make creative work—which is useful for times when you feel discouraged or insecure.)