Constraints are necessary
Some of the most frustrating experiences in my life have been because of a lack of constraints. Without constraints, the possibilities are limitless and forward progress is impossible. That doesn't feel great.
Self-imposing the right constraints on a problem can be incredibly freeing. And a wonderful thing about doing this is that constraints don't always have to be permanent. A minimum requirement for a set of constraints is that they should help you learn something. Once you've gathered more information you can decide if the initial set of contraints were actually useful. If they were, keep them. If they weren't, create some new ones.
The other hack is to break whatever you're doing down into very specific problems. That process itself imposes a constraint because it forces you to pick an approach to the overall problem. Maybe you could even argue that this process is how you create constraints?
Related thoughts
- Operating under constraints is the key to creativity and fun. Constraints give us structure.
- Finding novelty is only possible when we give ourselves the time to focus on a task and look hard for the variability.
- How you break down a problem is how you impose constraints.
Related reading
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