Member-only story
The Key to Creative Work Is Knowing When to Walk Away
The discipline to stop is just as important as sitting down each day to start
There is a moment in the Netflix documentary series Abstract that’s stayed with me: Illustrator Christoph Niemann is hard at work when he notices that it’s 6 p.m. Without hesitation, he stops what he’s doing, grabs his jacket, and leaves the office. As a viewer, I was shocked. Isn’t clock-watching only for people who hate their jobs? Wasn’t he in his flow? What if he couldn’t find his rhythm again tomorrow?
Over the next few days, I became obsessed with this seemingly small moment. “Discipline equals freedom,” as in the book by former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, had been my oft-repeated mantra. But this made me question everything I’d been taught about the importance of muscling through creative projects. Was that even “discipline” at all?
Do you know what spurs my best ideas? My wife. My kids. My friends. Good conversation. Green grass. Tall trees. A run. A book.
Niemann has discipline. He’s clearly incredibly productive: He’s had more New Yorker covers than any other artist. And he obviously knows exactly when to stop.
