you need a playground
Having trouble getting started with your creative project?
Your problem isn't you.
It’s not laziness.
It’s not a lack of discipline.
You need a playground.
(And, okay, a few other things.)
That playground needs to be easy to get to. Frictionless.
And — as the name implies — it has to be fun.
When you have a fun place to create that’s easy to access, you’ll find yourself creating more. Not by force. Not by willpower. Just by showing up.
Your playground might be a music studio you rent. A park bench where you set up your easel. A coworking space with good lighting and free coffee.
Or a small corner of your home where your tools live and wait for you.
But here’s the key:
Make your visits consistent.
Don’t make yourself think too hard to get there. No friction. No decision fatigue. Just go.
The Rules of the Playground:
- It’s safe. Messy. Yours.
- It’s reliable. No checking schedules or unlocking things.
- Ideally, it holds your mess — your half-finished stuff — so you can pick up right where you left off.
My current playground? It’s my desk at home — and the codebase behind this blog.
It’s where I write. Where I tinker. Where a note turns into a feature.
Like yesterday.
I’m a sucker for knowledge — I love the idea of building a digital garden, a place where I can store and return to the stuff I’ve learned. Because let’s be honest: my brain has terrible RAM. I’ll listen to a podcast and feel inspired… only to forget half of it the next day.
So, I built a tool. One command, and it transcribes a podcast or YouTube video, pulls out key ideas, and turns them into a page in my knowledge store.
Just like that — the moment I have an idea, I’m already building.
No setup. No friction. Just play.
That’s what happens when the playground is ready.
Now, I get it — not everyone writes code. So let’s step outside of tech for a second.
I’m also a musician. You know what kills creativity fastest? Setup.
When I feel that spark, the last thing I want to do is crawl under my desk to plug in gear, troubleshoot a DAW, or ask myself why my mic isn’t working.
That’s like arriving at the playground and realizing you have to build the swing set before you can play.
But when I’ve already got my gear in place? A flip of a switch, guitar in hand — and I’m off. That’s when songs get recorded. That’s when ideas flow.
It doesn’t have to be fancy.
Sometimes it’s as simple as leaving the guitar out of the case so I can grab it without thinking.
If you take one thing away from this, let it be this:
The more you reduce friction between you and your creativity, the more you'll create.
When your playground is set up and easy to get to, you’ll go there more often.
And when you do, you’ll play.
Now look around.
What’s one thing you can do today to make your playground easier to reach?
Go on.
Fun awaits.
