The Unblocked Carver
Issue #8: The Empty Mind Advantage: Reclaim Your Creative Focus in 15 Minutes/Day
Your mind is like an overflowing inbox with thousands of unread messages, constantly pinging for attention.
Every day, your brain processes an estimated 32 GB of information. How are you supposed to create original creative work amidst this constant barrage?
It's no wonder if you're tired, or stuck in a cycle.
I witness this struggle in nearly every artist and creator I work with. They have brilliant ideas but can't seem to bring them to life. They start strong, then fade. They feel perpetually foggy, scattered, unable to focus deeply enough to consistently access their true creative power.
Last week while working on an idea, I noticed how I kept checking my phone between bursts of writing. I realized I'd opened and closed the same three apps a dozen times without even thinking about it.
My attention had become so fragmented that my own mind was on autopilot. Sound familiar?
This modern affliction isn't just annoying—it's catastrophic for your creative practice. When your mental bandwidth is consumed by digital noise, unprocessed information, and open loops, the delicate process of creation simply cannot flourish.
The great painters of history whose names you know today didn't have the same degree of distraction. No devices buzzing in their pockets, or social media arguments echoing in their heads.
The real tragedy is that most creators never recognize that mental bandwidth—not talent, technique, or time—is their most precious and limited resource.
There are ways to reclaim this bandwidth that doesn't require monk-like discipline or abandoning modern life.
The answer isn't adding more productivity hacks to your already overflowing mental space.
Instead, you begin by emptying your cup.
The Bandwidth Paradox: The Empty Vessel Is Filled
You've been taught that input equals output. Read more books. Take more courses. Follow more experts. Gather more reference material.
This approach is killing your creativity.
The human brain evolved to handle the rich but limited information of natural environments. It was never designed for the ceaseless data tsunami of the digital age.
Your working memory—the mental workbench where creative connections happen—can only hold about 4-7 items simultaneously. When this space is cluttered, the subtle, non-linear thinking essential for original work becomes neurologically impossible.
Consider Steve Jobs, whose creative vision—like it or hate it—revolutionized multiple industries. While the world celebrates his innovative products, few discuss his deliberate practice of emptiness; spaciousness.
Jobs famously lived in a nearly empty home for years, surrounded by a minimalist aesthetic, often sitting cross-legged on the floor with just a record player, a lamp, and a tea set. His wardrobe consisted of identical black turtlenecks and jeans to eliminate decision fatigue.
This wasn't just eccentricity. It was strategic mental bandwidth management.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," Jobs said. He understood that creative breakthroughs don't come from having more information, more tools, more options—but from creating space for deep, uncluttered, focused thought.
The Zen masters call this concept "mushin" (無心) or "no-mind," a state where the mind is free from distracting thoughts, ready to respond without hesitation. The Taoists speak of "p'u," the uncarved block, representing potential before differentiation.
Both traditions recognize what modern creators can easily forget: empty space is not a void to be filled but a fertile field where creativity can take root.
The question isn't whether you're capable of brilliant work. The question is whether your mental environment allows that brilliance to emerge.
Your Reticular Activating System (RAS)—the attention filter in your brainstem—is programmed to notice what you've trained it to value.
Right now, it's likely tuned to distractions, notifications, and shallow dopamine hits rather than the subtle signals of emerging ideas.
The Empty Mind Advantage isn't mystical; it's neurological. When you deliberately clear mental bandwidth, you recalibrate your entire creative nervous system.
A study from the University of California found that knowledge workers check email and messaging apps every 6 minutes on average. Each context switch costs 23 minutes of refocused attention.
Do the math: most creators never get deep enough into their creative process to access deep flow.
The solution isn't working harder within a broken system.
It's changing the system itself.
The 5-Day Mental Space Reclamation Practice
What follows is a concentrated version of the Mental Bandwidth module from my upcoming Creative Wayfinders course. It all ties in to the other eight modules on such topics as Jungian shadow work, the science of flow states, and the creation of a personalized motivation generator.
The following five practices build upon each other, creating compound results that will shift your creative capacity.
Each practice takes 10 - 15 minutes, but don't be fooled by their simplicity. Think of them as precision instruments for recalibrating your mental environment. Throughout your whole week, this will take around 75 minutes of your attention.
Day 1: The Complete Brain Dump
Your mind is designed to generate ideas, not store them. When you use it as a warehouse instead of a workshop, creative thinking becomes neurologically impossible.
The Practice: Set aside 15-30 uninterrupted minutes with several blank pages or a digital note-taking app. Write down everything occupying your mental space: tasks, ideas, worries, commitments, half-formed thoughts. Don't organize yet—just get it all out.
Once complete, sort items into:
- Delete (things that aren't actually important)
- Delegate (things others can handle)
- Defer (schedule for a specific future time)
- Do (complete quickly now if possible)
- Document (capture in your system)
Why It Works: Neuroscience research from Princeton shows that visible, incomplete tasks create cognitive tension that drains mental resources. The "Zeigarnik Effect" explains why unfinished tasks consume disproportionate mental bandwidth. Externalizing these items releases cognitive resources for creative work.
Day 2: Digital Boundaries Reset
Your devices are designed by teams of engineers whose explicit goal is capturing and monetizing your attention.
The Practice: Make a "creativity mode" on your devices by:
- Performing a notification audit (disable all non-essential notifications)
- Designating specific times for email, social media, and news
- Removing non-essential apps from your device's home screen
- Using a focus app, or tech-free setting during creative sessions
- Unsubscribe from 3 of those product update emails that spam your inbox
Why It Works: Every notification triggers your brain's orienting response—an evolutionary mechanism that diverts attention to potential threats or opportunities. This activation comes at a direct cost to your creative thinking.
Day 3: The Three-Breath Transition
The space between activities is where bandwidth is often unknowingly sacrificed.
The Practice: Between activities (especially before creative work):
- Take one deep breath, acknowledging what you're leaving behind
- Take a second breath, clearing your mind
- Take a third breath, setting an intention for what's next
Why It Works: Transition moments create what psychologists call "attention residue"—where your mind remains partially engaged with a previous task even after moving to a new one. This fragmentation prevents full immersion in creative work.
Day 4: Input/Output Rebalancing
Most creators consume far more than they create, leading to inspiration without implementation.
The Practice: Implement a 1:1 ratio of consumption to creation. For every hour you spend consuming (reading, watching, listening), schedule an equal amount of time creating. Start with achieving this balance just two days per week.
Why It Works: This practice directly counteracts what psychology professor Soren Gordhamer calls "the consumer's trance"—the passive state of mind created by constant information intake without corresponding output.
Remember that creating doesn't have to be work, and action is often more leisurely than passive consumption. Going for a walk, or working on a painting or drawing, are sometimes more restful forms of leisure than scrolling on Instagram, or zoning out to Netflix.
Day 5: White Space
In music, the spaces between notes are as important as the notes themselves. The same is true for creative thinking.
The Practice: Create 15 minutes of daily "white space"—time with no inputs, no outputs, and no specific purpose. No phones, books, or distractions. Just you and your thoughts.
This isn't meditation (though that's valuable too). It's unstructured contemplation where your mind can make unexpected connections and insights can emerge.
Why It Works: Neuroscience research on the Default Mode Network shows that many creative insights occur when the brain isn't focused on specific tasks. This network becomes active during downtime, connecting disparate ideas and solving problems beneath conscious awareness.
These five practices create a solid foundation for mental bandwidth management. They cultivate what Zen practitioners might call "the beginner's mind"—a state of openness where creative possibilities flourish.
Rearranging the icons on your smartphone home screen is one of those little tasks that seem insignificant, but when you do it, the reduction in friction adds up to a big difference in mental bandwidth.
If you find this helpful, this has been just a taste of what we'll be exploring in Module 2 of The Creative Wayfinders course. If these ideas resonate, I invite you to experience the complete Mental Bandwidth module as a free mini-course ahead of the full 8-week course launch on May 10th.
The free mini-course includes video segments, an interactive workbook, and practical exercises designed to permanently expand your creative capacity.
Empty your mind first. Cultivate steady attention. Notice what you notice. That's mindfulness.
Everything else follows.
Until next time,
Jesse James Boyes
P.S. The full Creative Wayfinders course launches May 10th (register before then). There's a limit of 8 participants, allowing for an intimate creative community with weekly live encouragement calls. If you're ready to transform your relationship with creativity, I'd love to have you join us.