Your Creative Window of Tolerance
Your Creative Window of Tolerance
Playing at the edges of your creative comfort zone
Today, I want to introduce a concept that's been transformative in my creative journey: the creative window of tolerance.
Or, said less scientifically, the creative comfort zone.
You might be familiar with the term “window of tolerance” from psychology. It describes the zone where we’re able to function most effectively. When we’re within this window, we think clearly, make good decisions, and are able to respond to the demands of everyday life.
But what does this mean for creativity?
Your creative window of tolerance is the range that you can engage with your creative work comfortably and productively. Within this window, you feel engaged and challenged but not overwhelmed. You can stay present, express yourself well, and navigate the inevitable ups and downs of the creative process.
Outside of this window, there are less desirable experiences. They are the ones I’ve been labeling ‘creative dysregulation.’ Above the window is where stress, overwhelm and imposter syndrome live. Below the window is where apathy, boredom and indifference live.
Let’s visualize the creative window of tolerance as three layers of red, green and blue.
The experience I’ve seen with many creatives (myself included) is that we typically go for projects that launch us into the red layer. We seem to love ideas that feel like lightning bolts— fast hits of energy but prone to burning us out ⚡️
This is especially common for those who consider themselves “visionary thinkers.” But being a visionary thinker and a capable doer are two different things.
Bold creative ideas can lead to us feeling overwhelmed and unable to move forward. When this happens, we’ve gone beyond our creative window of tolerance.
As an example, think of someone in your life who’s told you about a creative idea they were going to do. “I’m going to write a memoir!” “I’m making a pilot episode!” And then nothing happens. The number of people who say they’re going to write a book versus the ones who actually publish a book is astonishingly high.
Why? It’s not because they’re incapable or their ideas were dumb. It’s because the way they were relating to their idea took them too far outside their creative window of tolerance.
This can be for many reasons, but a few common ones include:
Ideas that are big and complex in scope; too big for us to manage at once (scope tolerance1)
Ideas that are vulnerable and revealing, touching tender parts of our inner lives (depth or authenticity tolerance)
Ideas that expose us to others in a way that is uncomfortable and unfamiliar (visibility tolerance)
I’ve experienced all of these and have spent the majority of my creative history too far in the red zone. This is why I have more abandon projects to my name than successful ones. Without consciously knowing it, I’d hit the edge of my window of tolerance (or blow past it) and find myself completely incapable of creating or even being with my idea.
For a long time, I blamed my ideas for being bad or wrong in some way.
It was revelatory when I realized I was approaching them from outside my capacity. In the pursuit of creating, I would override my body, emotions, and all the cues telling me that I had gone beyond my window of tolerance. It wasn’t that the ideas were wrong. I didn’t have the capacity to fully meet them yet nor the skills to expand my capacity.
Finding the Sweet Spot
You may be wondering: If I’m always creating within my window tolerance (or comfort zone), won’t that get boring? Yes, it most likely will.
Our window of tolerance isn’t static; it evolves and expands the more we engage with it. If we always create within the green zone (fun and doable), eventually, those activities might feel more like the blue zone (boring and meh). Similarly, if we mindfully create in the red zone (unknown and stressful), those activities will eventually shift into the green zone.
The concept of cultivating creative capacity is essentially welcoming more aspects of creativity into our green zone. So, how do we do this?
When we create, we want to achieve two things:
Complete the project
Grow through the process
We want to find our sweet spot of creative tension. We want the right amount of comfortability and stability (green zone) so we can actually make it to the finish line. As well as the right amount of complexity, newness and learnings (red zone) so that we grow and expand as creatives.
To find this sweet spot, we must learn to listen and identify the signals within each of the three zones. We need to spend time (probably lots of time) in each of the three to really understand them and how they express themselves in our bodies, minds and behaviors.
Here’s a rough map of sensations, emotions/feelings and possible thought patterns within each. See which ones you’ve experienced.
From my research, the sweet spot is usually high in the green area with hints of red. In my book, Creative Dysregulation, I offer an experiment calling for 80% in the green and 20% in the red, which is a good ratio (at least for me) for stability and activation.
What this looks like in practice is that 80% of your creative actions are within your comfort zone. You’ve done them before and feel at ease in performing them. These are the activities that ensure your project reaches the finish line.
The other 20% of your actions are new, fresh, and unknown. They ask you to go deeper, farther, or into new areas of expression. It’s these activities that ensure you grow and stay engaged.
Although your ideal ratio might be different from 80/20, I encourage you to experiment with this framework to see if it supports your creative practice.
Seasoned creatives might feel more engaged if they experience a higher percentage of risk, uncertainty, and challenge, whereas those early in their creative journey might want just a tiny amount of it. Simply showing up to the page, desk or easel a few times a week might be the right amount of challenge.
Only you will know where your sweet spot is at any given point. Again, this is not static.
Let's try a quick exercise to help you identify yours:
Think of a recent creative project you enjoyed and completed successfully.
Reflect on the tasks involved. Which ones felt comfortable (green zone)? Which challenged you (red zone)? What were some thoughts, emotions/feelings, and sensations for each?
Estimate the ratio of comfortable to challenging tasks. Was it close to 80/20?
Now, consider a project you abandoned. How does this ratio compare?
For your next project, consciously plan tasks with your ideal ratio in mind.
If you typically dive straight into projects without considering your creative window of tolerance and have a history of giving up on creative pursuits, I really encourage you to try this.
Here’s the thing: everybody has a creative window of tolerance. It runs your creative life whether you know it or not. It will either make or break your quest for creative fulfillment. The moment you become aware of it and start to work with it consciously, you regain agency over your creativity.
Understanding your creative window of tolerance and finding your sweet spot are crucial skills for any creative that’ll empower a lifetime of epic creative exploration. It is not a limitation but a gateway to sustainable creativity.
By consciously balancing comfort and challenge, you unlock the power to complete projects and grow as an artist. Embrace this dynamic dance between stability and risk, and watch as your creative life transforms from a series of false starts into a journey of fulfilling accomplishments.
Various aspects of creativity, such as visibility, scope, and authenticity can challenge our comfort zones differently. Individual sensitivities to these 'levers' affect how we experience our creative window of tolerance. We'll explore these in detail in the next article.