Here's what works for them. What works for you?

 

A widely shared piece in The New York Times last week repeated a common assertion about working from home: that it makes you more productive, but less creative.

This quote, from none other than Steve Jobs, appeared in the article: "Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they're doing, you say 'Wow,' and soon you're cooking up all sorts of ideas."

Without a doubt, in-person interactions have always been central to the creative process in advertising, too. So, how can advertising people stay creative now that we're all confined at home for the foreseeable future?

We asked a bunch of people in the business how they're dealing with the new reality. Check out their responses below.

LINDA KNIGHT

Chief Creative Officer
Observatory

At home, you have time to think—a quietness. Ideas can come in the shower. Or tidying the kitchen, or drinking that one coffee (OK, two coffees) as you gear up. At work, it's a collaborative time. Conversations, brainstorms, meetings. But that quiet time at home is something precious in the creative process, often overlooked. Not sure my best ideas would come in the shower at work.

Thankfully, with new technology, we don't have to sacrifice our work connection. Just yesterday, Observatory had an hour long session with creative collaborators in London whom we'd planned to fly in to work with. A virtual writers' room! Today, we had three Zooms, and next week a creative team will video conference into an edit. There is still so much going on. We are just as engaged and connected but with more time to really think.

The enemy isn't the office or working from home. Creativity comes from keeping things fresh and changing them up.

JESSICA REZNICK MARTIN

President
We're Magnetic 

At We're Magnetic, we believe creativity can be inspired by changing your vantage point. We hope working from home will allow our team to look at their day and perspective in a different way, which could be valuable when challenged with creative tasks. 

To further support the creative process, we'll be offering Amazon gift cards and encouraging everyone to surround themselves with inspiring content. We have also discussed "surprise and delight" team video chats that can be anything from a magic show to a town hall. 

During this unique time, it can be challenging to promote creativity and community, so it's up to our leadership team to continue finding innovative ways for creativity to thrive.

KELLY BAYETT

Founder and Creative Director
Barking Owl

Working from home can be much more productive with less distractions, unless you have kids who are also home, and then it's almost impossible without the help of an iPad or Disney+. It can be incredibly difficult to be as creative when working from home, since so much of our creativity is inspired by the people we are around. One idea inspires a thousand, and it's tough to get that first idea alone. 

I always try to keep communication open so I'm not isolated—through FaceTime, messaging, etc., just to have our collaborators with us to bounce ideas off of keeps our creativity flowing. If you stay creative and connected, it will keep you from feeling depressed and in your own thoughts while sitting in isolation. Or maybe that's just me.

A version of this article appeared on Muse by Clio.