Dirty secrets first: I stole and adapted this concept from Dave Thomas, a prominent person presently playing with Pragmatic Programmers. But he stole and adapted from elsewhere, so I’ll follow his lead. Dave writes about the concept of Code Katas, saying this:

How do you get to be a great musician? It helps to know the theory, and to understand the mechanics of your instrument. It helps to have talent. But ultimately, greatness comes practicing; applying the theory over and over again, using feedback to get better every time.

He goes on to discuss how people learn in Karate.  They perform katas, which are rote memorized run-throughs of a scripted movement.  The idea is to train your muscle memory so that you react the right way instinctively when you, ahem, need your mad ninja skills.  So what Dave adapted from karate to programming, I’m adapting to the creative arts.  Sure, creative types like you and me depend on trying new things, but a lot of creative production work is rote performance, too.  Here’s a sample from my work day:

“Shift + Command + N makes a new layer.  L selects the lasso tool. Command + J jumps the selection to a new layer.  Command click on the new layer to reselect, then Shift + Command + I inverts your selection.”

Boring, right?  But it’s damned useful when you need to know it.  And when I go through those steps, even in my head, I can feel a rhythm to it.  It’s like a kata for me.  When I’m producing, I can run through those steps with my fingers.  My brain barely engages.  That leaves me bandwidth to deal with the creative side of the work, the object or the aesthetic.  I can wonder whether red or darker red will work this time, instead of trying to make the mechanics come together.  It’s my equivalent of a ninja skill, if you will.

Shooting photos is the same for me.  I run through checklists instincitvely.  “ISO – check.  White balance – check.  Light direction – check.  Aperture needed – check.  Shutter speed – check.  Composition – check.  Subject – Wait, no, the subject looks goofy.”  If I was caught up with white balance – if I didn’t know that stuff cold – I’d never get around to thinking about my goofy-looking subject.  I’d never be able to consider that I have a human in front of the camera – someone who’s worried about how they look or waiting for some direction from me.

So whatever yoour creative work is, I encourage you to find some katas to practice.  Make a routine to run through, and do it half-speed, three-quarter speed, full speed.  Get your muscles used to the work so your brain can move to higher-order thinking.  Get some rhythm and enjoy the results.