• exploration (play) requires time which might be unproductive in the usual sense
  • feeling of "wasting time" makes it hard to go into this play mode
• possible solutions
  • timeboxing parts of day for experimentation
  • residencies - going with an attempt to explore not create
• related to research and day-to-day in terms of planning one's day, and to thinking and time in terms of different timescales needed for thinking

(...) you have to create some space for yourself away from those demands. And that means sealing yourself off.

You must make a quiet space for yourself where you will be undisturbed.

Next: Time. It's not enough to create space, you have to create your space for a specific period of time. You have to know that your space will last until exactly 3:30, and that at that moment your normal life will start again.

— John Cleese - https://jamesclear.com/great-speeches/creativity-in-management-by-john-cleese

• summarizing John Cleese's speech:
  • two modes of operation:
    • closed = execution
    • open = play/exploration
  • cycling between open and closed is needed to ideate and build
  • play requires time and isolation from "normal" work
  • play is meditation on a problem
  • play doesn't give results immediately, but consistent pondering influences subconscious to take over
  • play is about making unexpected connections, and giving them meaning