People who deal with bipolar disorder experience a continual cycle of extreme ups and downs – the ups containing boundless energy and creativity, and the downs on the opposite end of the spectrum, depressive and low energy. Sometimes dangerously so. For people dealing with this disorder, treatment can often make a big difference – evening out those extremes so they can live a more productive life.
I got to thinking about how this relates to my experience of the ebb and flow of creativity and productivity throughout my career. Some weeks I can bang out tons of creative projects without much hassle nor pause in between, and other weeks it’s like pulling teeth to accomplish even the bare minimum. Why should that be? As far as I know I am not bipolar, but these ups and downs in productivity and creativity seem to be on a similar cycle as what I’ve heard described by my friends with this disorder, only on a much lesser degree. And it’s disruptive to my business and why I often end up working evenings and weekends to make up for times that I’ve not been able to complete my work in normal business hours.
So what’s the deal? Is everyone on some level dealing with cycles like this? Some days you’re on, some off, and there’s no use worrying about it? Is it just human nature? Those who experience the extremes and get treatment report that before being on meds they’d assumed that everyone feels this way. Only since treatment do you realize that there’s another way to live.
I wonder if there’s a way to harness the productivity cycle to be more – well – productive. If I must have down cycles, can they not be relegated to evenings or weekends when I do not plan to work anyway? Is there no way to control it and maybe I should just go with it and when I’m on a low productivity swing that I should just take myself away from the office and do something else entirely? Does being in the seat with the computer under my fingertips increase the chance that productivity will arise out of nowhere, or is it a fools errand?
