Constraints Breed Resourcefulness
“Less is more” in podcasting and can actually help with your creativity.
Musicians have known this for years.
For example, the recording technology for The Beatles’ album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was quite primitive by today's standards. With only four tracks available, they had to be extremely creative to get what they heard in their heads on tape.
Would they have had better results in a modern studio with unlimited tracks? I don’t think so.
Limitations force us to think about our decisions.
Have you ever used Audacity to record your podcast? For years, it was a “destructive” editor, meaning that any decisions you made to files, such as adding effects, changing levels, and making cuts, were permanent. You could try something and immediately back out via Ctrl-Z (the undo command), but once something was saved, the results of your previous decisions were in stone.
I don’t think that’s a limitation—it’s an asset.
Constraints breed resourcefulness.
Skeptical? Think about this.
Let’s brainstorm all the ways we can use a brick.Take 30 seconds and write everything you can think of.
My list:
Doorstop
Paperweight
Garden path stepping stone
Bookend
Grill or fire pit construction
Flowerbed edging
Homemade dumbbell for exercise
Window or glass door security prop
Shelf support
Decorative feature in an aquarium
Photography prop
Hammer for nails or stakes
Base for balancing objects in an art installation
Over half of these ideas involve hitting or weighing down something. The others are something to look at.
If we take those things away, the ideas we come up with are much more creative …
Painting canvas (painting directly onto the brick)
Heat reservoir (heating it and using it to keep food warm)
Housing for small wildlife (creating a small habitat in the garden)
Building material for a miniature model structure
Carving medium for an art project
Pen/pencil holder (by drilling holes into the brick)
Sign holder (by affixing a sign to the brick)
Measuring tool for children's activities (comparing sizes and weights)
Message board (writing or painting messages on it)
Time capsule container (sealing items within hollowed-out bricks)
Plant pot (for small plants, using the holes in the brick, if applicable)
Soap dish (with proper treatment to make it smooth and appropriate for bathroom use)
That’s the power of constraint.
