New research from creative freelancer platform Genie delves inside the creative mind, attempting to understand changing attitudes to work, post-pandemic. Genie says it surveyed 1,001 “creative professionals to understand their working preferences”, asking “what makes the creative mind tick, and where do creative ideas form? And, how might these preferences have changed as a result of Covid?”

What have they learned? A lot of it is not very surprising: creative people say they get most of their ideas in the shower or when out for a walk, while a measly 16% think they are most inspired at the office, for example. We also learn that 68% think working from home helps them to be more creative, that technology is a help rather than a hindrance (despite earlier stories about the negative impact of multiple video calls) and one in three rank self-motivation as the most underrated skill in creativity.

That last point is worth further consideration. The productivity gains which come from creatives being at home partly stem from having greater control over their environment and levels of disruption – no colleagues just popping over for a desk-side catch-up, for instance. While we shouldn’t ignore warnings about long-term harm to collaboration and culture (particularly for younger team members and new joiners), it’s clear that working from home, or at least a place of their own choosing, has been beneficial for creative people in many ways.

It’s not just about where that work takes place, it’s also about how. That self-motivation has come to the fore as a key skill no doubt stems from the fact that when you have greater control over your working day, it takes willpower to ignore the myriad opportunities to faff about which lurk just yards away: this table could really do with dusting; maybe I should pop a quick wash on; just going to check the news to see who the Prime Minister is today etc.

It’s clear that working from home, or at least a place of their own choosing, has been beneficial for creative people in many ways

For those struggling with imposing some discipline on their working day, inspiration can be found in history’s great writers. Life as a writer necessitates long hours of solitary graft. With no ‘boss’ looking over their shoulder and no set working hours, writers often feel the need to create a structure for themselves. And they have been very keen to share how they do it.

Novelist Haruki Murakami has one of the most bewilderingly spartan schedules, including a 4am start, and a 10km run, or 1500m swim, or both. Kurt Vonnegut was also a committed daily swimmer, though his philosophy would divert notably from Murakami’s at 5pm each day, when “I numb my twanging intellect with several belts of Scotch and water”. WH Auden was a fan of the cocktail hour too, as well as the early start: “Only the ‘Hitlers of the world’ work at night; no honest artist does,” he once declared.

Writer Mayo Oshin has made a long-term study of productivity and has gathered together more of these testaments to creative discipline on his website. One of his recommendations is that, “instead of scheduling around time, schedule around your energy and willpower levels. By matching the times of the day you have the most energy with your most important tasks, you can significantly improve your productivity.”

Such a focus on energy and its management was the subject of John Owen’s master’s thesis. A former journalist and partner at ad agency Dare, Owen is now a colleague of mine at the WDC consultancy. He also runs workshops for agencies on energy management where he uses Charles Darwin’s working day as an instructional example.

We should recognise what a rare privilege it is for any worker to be able to control what they do and when – it’s hardly something that nurses, carers or retail staff could indulge in

Darwin famously did his most important work (theorising, writing, and experimenting) in three 90-minute bursts each day, from 8am to 9.30am, 10.30am to noon and 4pm to 5.30pm. In between times, he scheduled either admin work (mainly correspondence) or ‘deliberate rest’, such as a walk, a proper lunch and a nap. His day, as Owen points out, was all about understanding how to manage his energy most effectively, accepting that energy levels are not constant and that rest is an investment, not a luxury.

All of which presupposes that you have sufficient control over your time to make this work. The great writers whose example we are asked to follow evidently have little or no responsibility when it comes to things like childcare – you will search in vain for Hemingway to explain how he factored in rushing off to pick the kids up from school or to get them to trampolining. And we should recognise what a rare privilege it is for any worker to be able to control what they do and when – it’s hardly something that nurses, carers or retail staff could indulge in.

For many in the creative industries, such control will also fall foul of the demands of both colleagues and clients. How many unexpected pitches or PR disasters does Murakami have to sort out in-between his 10ks? Was Auden interrupted mid-stanza by his publisher wanting to jump on a quick call every five minutes? I think not. And the whole model of timesheets, charge-out and day rates is fundamentally at odds with a Darwinian regime – can you charge a client for napping?

Add to that the fetishisation of the ‘back-to-back’ day as a signifier of importance, with managers rushing around clutching phone and notebook from one meeting room to the next, plus toxic out of hours emailing, and being able to organise your own day in any meaningful sense may feel like fantasy.

The pandemic has already resulted in a new approach to the ‘where’ of work: now it’s time to challenge the ‘how’ and ‘when’

But circumstance has delivered an opportunity to make a change. Agencies are struggling to recruit. Burn-out and work-life balance are frequently cited reasons for quitting – quietly or otherwise. Agency business models that have relied on large amounts of unpaid overtime from junior staff are under significant pressure. And the pandemic has already resulted in a new approach to the ‘where’ of work: now it’s time to challenge the ‘how’ and ‘when’.

We’ve seen some tinkering with the working day. Wieden & Kennedy’s attempt to reduce out-of-hours emails, for instance, and the introduction of duvet or wellness days. But there are far more radical options out there. Labour MP Peter Dowd, for example, is introducing a bill to the UK Parliament to cut maximum weekly hours from 48 to 32, instituting a four day week. It follows a trial begun earlier this year involving more than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies which its organisers claim will boost productivity. Given the current political and economic situation, Dowd’s bill stands little chance of going anywhere but at least the orthodoxy of the five day, 9-to-5 is being seriously challenged.

It has always seemed odd to me that creative businesses are anything but creative when it comes to how they work. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen agency bosses bang on about how creativity is their ‘superpower’ and yet they maintain working practices that are creative kryptonite.

If you start with a recognition that your staff’s creativity is your greatest asset, surely you must do everything possible to maximise their ability to deliver it

If you start with a recognition that your staff’s creativity is your greatest asset, surely you must do everything possible to maximise their ability to deliver it. That means allowing them to structure their time in order to do their best work. It may cause internal ructions, but creative people are different and they should be treated as such.

Allow them to block out time in their diaries for thinking, talking, exploring. Let them work the hours that suit them best, based round their energy levels. Be more purposeful and disciplined about distracting meetings and keep them to an absolute minimum. Learn from other sectors who are better at this. Respect and empower your people. Use the huge amount of tech platforms out there to help. Above all, ask how you could design a working day for maximum creativity.

In a battle for talent, the winning agencies and design studios will be those that innovate radically in this space and truly put their creative people’s needs first.