The One Creative Habit That Separates Pros from Everyone Else
I’ve been reading "Four Thousand Weeks" by Oliver Burkeman, and one chapter in particular—“Staying on the Bus”—has stuck with me.
It explores what real patience means, especially in creative work. In a world that rewards immediacy, cultivating patience is almost a superpower. It gives us the space to go deeper, to stay with problems longer, and to create work that isn’t just good, but truly original.
It's made me reflect on how that idea applies to sound design.Burkeman describes three principles:First, he suggests we develop a taste for having problems.
Second, he talks about radical incrementalism: the idea that meaningful progress happens in small, consistent steps.
The best work I’ve done hasn’t come from big moments of inspiration—it’s come from showing up consistently and allowing things to evolve over time.It came from steady practice—day after day—slowly building clarity and intuitionAnd finally, the metaphor that hit hardest: the Helsinki bus routes. Every bus starts off on the same road, passing the same stops.
At first, all the routes looks similar. But if you keep riding—if you don’t hop off in search of a new line—you eventually veer off into your own route. Your own territory. That’s where originality lives. That’s where your voice begins to emerge.
But you only get there by staying on the bus longer than most people are willing to.
For sound designers (or any creative person), this is an invitation to stick with the process a little longer. To resist jumping ship when things feel stuck or slow. The depth, the nuance, the voice you’re looking for—it comes after the point where most people quit.
Stay on bus.