There are few things that feel as strangely satisfying as throwing away an old box that you’ve been moving around between storage units for ten years without ever opening it. You lift it. You look at it a little uncertain. You feel a slight twinge of guilt. And then something almost solemn happens when it disappears. Suddenly the room feels bigger. The air changes. And strangely enough, your brain starts to think more clearly.
It sounds almost ridiculously simple. Like a self-help book written by someone who sorts pencils by color. But there’s actually something deeply human about this. We don’t function very well when we’re overcrowded. Not our homes. Not our calendars. Not our organizations. And definitely not our heads. That’s why creativity so often begins with something that feels destructive.
“Creativity is first an act of destruction”
The quote “Creativity is first an act of destruction” is often attributed to Pablo Picasso. The exact wording and origin are sometimes debated, which is quite common with famous quotes, but the spirit is close to much of what Picasso actually expressed about creating and transforming reality.
And it is difficult to find a better summary of the first phase of creativity. Because before something new can make room, something old often has to go. It doesn’t just apply to art. It applies to thoughts, habits, structures and identities. Creativity is not just about adding more ideas. It is often about daring to remove things that no longer help us think. That is why people sometimes get their best ideas when they are cleaning the attic, walking in the forest or sitting quietly looking out a train window. The brain finally gets some air.
Physical clutter is sometimes mental background noise
There is research that shows that visual clutter increases cognitive load. The brain has to constantly process the impressions around us, even when we are not actively thinking about it. A crowded room is therefore a bit like trying to think while someone is constantly whispering in the background.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Creativity doesn’t need perfection. Some creative people work great in a certain amount of chaos. The problem arises when the environment starts to take energy instead of giving it. There’s a difference between living creative clutter and old mental overload in physical form. A creative studio with half-finished projects feels different than a storage room full of things no one cares about anymore.
One signals movement. The other signals stagnation.
Mental cleansing is harder than cleaning a storage room
Unfortunately, sorting out old cords and giving away books you’ll never read is not enough. Mental noise is often much harder to clear. Thoughts have a tendency to recycle themselves. The same worries. The same old reasoning. The same unresolved conflicts that spin around like laundry in a machine that never stops. This is where nature really becomes important.
Studies in psychology and neuroscience show that spending time in nature reduces stress levels, restores attention spans, and strengthens creative problem-solving. Researchers who have worked with the theory “Attention Restoration Theory” describe how nature helps the brain recover from focused concentration and mental overload.
That’s why people often think better after a walk. Not despite leaving work for a while. But because of it.
Nature doesn’t demand anything from you
There’s something almost provocative about nature in our time. The forest doesn’t try to optimize you. It doesn’t want to sell you anything. It doesn’t send you notifications. It doesn’t demand performance. It makes the brain gradually start to let go of the constant micromanagement we subject ourselves to. Suddenly you hear your own thoughts again. Or more importantly. You hear the silence between thoughts.
Silence acts as a mental reboot
We underestimate silence enormously. In modern environments, the brain is almost constantly busy. Music, podcasts, meetings, scrolling, notifications and conversations fill every little gap. The problem is that creativity often needs gaps. Just as music is not just made up of notes but also of pauses, creative thinking needs empty space for ideas to connect.
Silence therefore works almost like rebooting an operating system. This doesn’t mean that everyone has to meditate on mountaintops. But it does mean that the brain sometimes needs to be undisturbed long enough for deeper thoughts to emerge.
Play is not the opposite of productivity
There is also another misconception that modern organizations are quite good at reinforcing. That play is something frivolous.
In fact, play is one of the most advanced mechanisms for human learning and creativity. When people play games, improvise or play, their relationship to failure changes. Rules become flexible. Experimentation feels allowed. Imagination is activated. This is why creative breakthroughs often occur in relaxed environments rather than under maximum pressure. A playful workshop can sometimes create more innovation in two hours than months of formal meetings. Not because people suddenly become smarter. But because their mental blocks are loosened.
Children and the elderly understand something we have forgotten
There is also a strange exercise that almost always works to restore presence. Spend a day with children. Or with older people who no longer live in the same stress logic as the rest of society.
Children are often completely uninterested in efficiency. They examine the world slowly, curiously and with full attention. Older people who have lived a long time sometimes tend to do something similar. The pace changes. Perspectives broaden.
Suddenly you notice how much of your own life has been on autopilot. It is not just emotional. It is creative. Because presence is a prerequisite for real creativity. You cannot discover anything new if you are never really there.
Organizations also needs a clean out
The same mechanisms apply to organizations. Many companies and institutions try to be innovative by adding more initiatives, more projects and more meetings without removing anything old. It works about as well as trying to build a new kitchen on top of an old one without first tearing out what is broken.
This is where the wheels of the year become interesting. Many organizations get stuck in recurring cycles where activities are repeated because they have always been done. No one really dares to ask if everything is still needed. And this is often where creativity begins to die. Because when the calendar is full, there is no room for the unexpected.
The most innovative organizations therefore often work actively with creative gaps. Periods of reflection. Experimentation. Exploration. Not as a reward after work but as part of the work.
Giving people the feeling of creative space
Perhaps the most interesting thing is that people do not always need less to do to feel creative freedom. They need the feeling that there is space to think. A good leader can create this through small things. By allowing unfinished ideas. By not demanding answers right away. By creating meetings where the purpose is exploratory rather than decision-making. by making the “creative space” visible.
It’s really less about time than about mental oxygenation. People become creative when they feel there is room to think beyond the first logical thought.
Health is also about creative recovery
There are also more and more studies showing the connection between recovery, creativity and health. Chronic stress not only impairs well-being but also cognitive flexibility, problem-solving skills and creative thinking. The brain needs variation between focus and recovery to function optimally. This is why sleep, nature, play and social presence have such a strong impact on creativity.
We often think of recovery as the absence of work. But perhaps we should start seeing it as the maintenance of our creative capacity.
Maybe the void is the very point
The strange thing is that we often chase creativity by filling our lives with more. More information. More inspiration. More tools. More methods.
But many times the most important ideas arse when something disappears. When a room is emptied. When the calendar opens a little. When the screen goes out. When the forest has the last word instead of the algorithms.
Maybe creativity isn’t just the ability to create something new.
Maybe it’s also the courage to clear away enough to make room for the new.
