I don’t think of myself as a disorganized person, and I’m pretty sure no one who knows me would use that word to describe me. To the outside world, I’m the opposite of disorganized. I meet my deadlines; my paperwork is always in order; I have intense focus on a project and always see things through. I get stuff done.

But this morning when I was working on an important project, one with several moving parts, I found myself flitting from one idea to the next. I started with an outline, but the outline inspired me to look something up, and when I found that thing I realized I should make a new document to support the project, and I got excited about that document, and at some point in that process I realized that my brain had just shot off in several directions and even though I couldn’t seem to focus on any one component, I was in a state of creative flow. My mind was disorganized, and I’m sure my activity looked like it was all over the place. But it was all coming together.

Sometimes creativity can’t be organized. Sometimes focus means allowing your brain to wander and flirt with new ideas while staying within the parameters of a bigger project. This isn’t a new realization for me, but sometimes it’s good to remind myself that in some respects, I’m disorganized. And when it’s in the service of creativity, I can embrace that!