---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Part of being creative is not being…"
description: "\"Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.\" — Joshua Foer"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png"
---

#  Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.

![“Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.” quote by Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png)

> “Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.”

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Creativity thrives when the mind is not hyper‑focused, allowing ideas to wander and connect.

**In simple terms:** Creativity needs relaxed focus.

Key Takeaway

Allow mental space for ideas to emerge.

Themes

creativity focus mindset

Mood

inspirational practical

Type

advice psychological

When to use this quote

- writing
- art
- problem solving
- brainstorming

Key Concepts

cognitive science psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you balance focus and relaxation?
- When does focus hinder creativity?

A Different Perspective

Too much relaxation can lead to procrastination.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Be creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-creative/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creative Super](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-super-716391/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Duper Focused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duper-focused-716390/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Focused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focused/) [Super Duper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/super-duper-716392/)

## Related quotes

> [Everything you do is super duper cute and I can't stand it!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-you-do-is-super-duper-cute-and-i-can-t-stand-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The one bad bitches call super duper lame, now super duper fame, gets me super duper brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-cudi/the-one-bad-bitches-call-super-duper-lame-now-super-duper-fame-gets/)

[Kid Cudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-cudi/)

> [There are no words to describe you because you just super-duper special in my heart!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-low/there-are-no-words-to-describe-you-because-you-just-super-duper/)

[Alex Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-low/)

> [I'm a super-duper over-analyzer. You mix that with self-doubt and pressure, and that's never healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole-2/i-m-a-super-duper-over-analyzer-you-mix-that-with-self-doubt-and/)

[J. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole-2/)

> [Angrez' is a super duper hit and it gives me great pride in saying that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sargun-mehta/angrez-is-a-super-duper-hit-and-it-gives-me-great-pride-in-saying-that/)

[Sargun Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sargun-mehta/)

> [Miami is always super, duper lit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/post-malone/miami-is-always-super-duper-lit/)

[Post Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/post-malone/)

> [With the super duper flow, I created that one word rhyme style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/with-the-super-duper-flow-i-created-that-one-word-rhyme-style/)

[Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/)

> [“Jenny is super duper” was the answer back. Jenny knew how to humor the missus, calling her a slip of a girl and drawing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/jenny-is-super-duper-was-the-answer-back-jenny-knew-how-to-humor-the/)

[Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/)

> [(: Feeling super, super (: Super duper (: suicidal &lt;3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ream/feeling-super-super-super-duper-suicidal-3/)

[Ream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ream/)

> [Super Duper K-I-D, I'm on another planet b.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-cudi/super-duper-k-i-d-i-m-on-another-planet-b/)

[Kid Cudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-cudi/)

> [Women need a space to be creative -- creativity thrives in solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sark/women-need-a-space-to-be-creative-creativity-thrives-in-solitude/)

[Sark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sark/)

> ['Born This Way' is shaping up to be creative ecstasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurieann-gibson/born-this-way-is-shaping-up-to-be-creative-ecstasy/)

[Laurieann Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurieann-gibson/)

> [Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings… Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/attempt-to-be-creative-for-the-joy-it-brings-select-something-like/)

[Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/)

> [To be creative means to connect. It's to abolish the gap between the body, the mind and the soul, between science and art, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/to-be-creative-means-to-connect-it-s-to-abolish-the-gap-between-the/)

[Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/)

> [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/)

[David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/)

## More by Joshua Foer

> [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“I don’t think I’m an exceptionally bad reader. I suspect that many people, maybe even most, are like me. We read and read and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-reader-i-suspect-that-many/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [Life seems to speed up as we get older because life gets less memorable as we get older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/life-seems-to-speed-up-as-we-get-older-because-life-gets-less/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“We can only think about roughly seven things at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/we-can-only-think-about-roughly-seven-things-at-a-time/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [With our blogs and tweets, digital cameras, and unlimited-gigabyte e-mail archives, participation in the online culture now means creating a trail of always present,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/with-our-blogs-and-tweets-digital-cameras-and-unlimited-gigabyte-e/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [How much are we willing to lose from our already short lives by losing ourselves in our Blackberries, our iPhones, by not paying attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/how-much-are-we-willing-to-lose-from-our-already-short-lives-by/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“I Came away from the U.S. Memory Championship eager to find out how Ed and Lukas did it. Were these just extraordinary individuals, pridigies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-came-away-from-the-u-s-memory-championship-eager-to-find-out-how-ed/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [The 'OK Plateau' is that place we all get to where we just stop getting better at something. Take typing, for example. You might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/the-ok-plateau-is-that-place-we-all-get-to-where-we-just-stop-getting/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“One book, printed in the Heart’s own wax / Is worth a thousand in the stacks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/one-book-printed-in-the-heart-s-own-wax-is-worth-a-thousand-in-the-2/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [Languages are something of a mess. They evolve over centuries through an unplanned, democratic process that leaves them teeming with irregularities, quirks, and words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/languages-are-something-of-a-mess-they-evolve-over-centuries-through/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [Invented languages have often been created in tandem with entire invented universes, and most conlangers come to their craft by way of fantasy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/invented-languages-have-often-been-created-in-tandem-with-entire/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“Perhaps, as Borges concludes in his story, it is forgetting, not remembering, that is the essence of what makes us human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/perhaps-as-borges-concludes-in-his-story-it-is-forgetting-not/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [Someday in the distant cyborg future, when our internal and external memories fully merge, we may come to possess infinite knowledge. But that's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/someday-in-the-distant-cyborg-future-when-our-internal-and-external/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [What makes things memorable is that they are meaningful, significant, colorful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/what-makes-things-memorable-is-that-they-are-meaningful-significant/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“As the historian Jocelyn Penny Small pointed out, GODISNOWHERE comes out a lot differently when rendered as GOD IS NOW HERE versus GOD IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/as-the-historian-jocelyn-penny-small-pointed-out-godisnowhere-comes/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

[Explore all 114 Joshua Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

## More Be creative quotes

> [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/)

[David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/)

> [To be creative means to connect. It's to abolish the gap between the body, the mind and the soul, between science and art, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/to-be-creative-means-to-connect-it-s-to-abolish-the-gap-between-the/)

[Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/)

> [Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings… Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/attempt-to-be-creative-for-the-joy-it-brings-select-something-like/)

[Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/)

> ['Born This Way' is shaping up to be creative ecstasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurieann-gibson/born-this-way-is-shaping-up-to-be-creative-ecstasy/)

[Laurieann Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurieann-gibson/)

> [Women need a space to be creative -- creativity thrives in solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sark/women-need-a-space-to-be-creative-creativity-thrives-in-solitude/)

[Sark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sark/)

> [Held in the palms of thousands of disgruntled people over the centuries have been ideas worth millions - if they only had taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hayes/held-in-the-palms-of-thousands-of-disgruntled-people-over-the/)

[Robert M. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hayes/)

> [To lose your everyday life of surfing and being creative on waves, enjoying the ocean - that's scary to me. It was essential to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bethany-hamilton/to-lose-your-everyday-life-of-surfing-and-being-creative-on-waves/)

[Bethany Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bethany-hamilton/)

> [Trusting people to be creative and constructive when given more freedom does not imply an overly optimistic belief in the perfectibility of human nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/trusting-people-to-be-creative-and-constructive-when-given-more/)

[Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/)

> [I do like to be creative and I'm very lucky that I've been given different areas in which I'm able to do that -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-o-brien/i-do-like-to-be-creative-and-i-m-very-lucky-that-i-ve-been-given/)

[Richard O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-o-brien/)

> [I miss the city Bret and I live in, Wellington. It's a good place to be creative, in the same way New York is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jemaine-clement/i-miss-the-city-bret-and-i-live-in-wellington-it-s-a-good-place-to-be/)

[Jemaine Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jemaine-clement/)

> [I do explore the emotion every once in a while. I'd like to think you don't stop being creative once you get happy. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-do-explore-the-emotion-every-once-in-a-while-i-d-like-to-think-you/)

[Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/)

> [I stopped doing comics because I found the pressure really high to nail it every time. It's really difficult to be creative all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-beaton/i-stopped-doing-comics-because-i-found-the-pressure-really-high-to/)

[Kate Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-beaton/)

> [If you never venture outside the box, you will probably not be creative. But if you never get inside the box, you will certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-peterson/if-you-never-venture-outside-the-box-you-will-probably-not-be/)

[Christopher Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-peterson/)

> [I got into acting because I wanted to act and I love acting. That's my true north: to be creative and to be challenged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/i-got-into-acting-because-i-wanted-to-act-and-i-love-acting-that-s-my/)

[Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/)

> [ I don't know that Brandy \[Burre\] would ever categorize herself as being trapped, but I felt like I saw her being trapped. When she's… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/i-don-t-know-that-brandy-burre-would-ever-categorize-herself-as-being/)

[Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/)

[Browse all 489 Be creative quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-creative/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Joshua Foer"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-super-duper-focused/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Be creative"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-super-duper-focused/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/joshua-foer-4147_be-creative_part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-supe_1656986.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Part of being creative is not being super-duper focused.” — Joshua Foer",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Joshua Foer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Part of being creative is not...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-super-duper-focused/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/part-of-being-creative-is-not-being-super-duper-focused/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
