Constraints bring out the best ideas

Being narrow and specific will make us less creative.

That’s what we think.

But it’s the other way around.

I spent two weeks writing an article and then scrapped it entirely.

I realized I was doing too much.

I was trying to cover too big a topic in one article. The article was getting bloated, and I was getting increasingly frustrated.

Just when I was about to pull the last 7 hairs from my head, I changed my approach.

I reduced the scope.

Originally, the article was going to be about different email marketing strategies.

Too broad.

I then reduced the scope to ‘Email marketing strategies for your product promotion.’

The ideas started flowing. Away I went, banging at the keyboard.

Constraints bring out the best ideas.