Zorana Pringle on Creativity as a Choice: From Ideas to Action

Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life

Erik Fisher

Business, Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Careers, Education

4.5 • 875 Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle is a leading researcher in creativity psychology and author of The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action. In this episode, she unpacks how creativity isn’t just a moment of inspiration—it’s a series of choices. Whether you think you’re creative or not, Zorana shares how motivation, attention, risk tolerance, and constraint shape the process of turning ideas into reality.

In this episode, we cover:

Creativity Is More Than Ideas: Zorana explains how we’ve culturally over-glorified the spark of inspiration and ignored the decision-making and execution behind it.
The Myth of the “Creative Type”: Creativity isn’t just for artists—it’s about original, effective solutions in any domain.
Why Constraints Boost Creativity: Contrary to popular belief, creativity often increases when we have guardrails that focus and challenge our thinking.
The Role of Risk in Creative Work: Zorana breaks down intellectual, emotional, and social risks—and how to increase your tolerance over time.
The Two Engines of Creativity: Motivation provides energy, while attention directs it. You need both to make progress on creative projects.
Problem Finding vs. Problem Solving: Zorana introduces this lesser-known concept as a key to identifying where creativity can be applied.
The Goldilocks Zone of Challenge: Learn how to find the sweet spot between too easy and too hard so your ideas actually move forward.
How Social Conditioning Kills Creativity: Early messaging about what counts as “creative” can cause many to opt out before they begin.
Building Creative Momentum in Small Steps: Zorana shares her own journey from writing blog posts to eventually publishing her book—and how each step built risk tolerance.
Why Total Freedom Can Backfire: New research shows that creativity thrives not in total freedom, but with a balance of structure and autonomy.

Whether you’re stuck at the idea stage or afraid to start, this episode will help you reframe creativity as a process anyone can engage with—and show you how to make progress one decision at a time.

Learn more about Zorana’s work at ZoranaPringle.com and find The Creativity Choice wherever books are sold.

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Transcript

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0:55.9	That's V-A-N-T-A-com slash G-O. Hello and welcome back to Beyond the To Do List, a podcast about productivity.
1:21.4	I'm your host, Eric Fisher, and in this episode, I am talking with Dr. Zorana Pringle.
1:26.8	She's a leading researcher in creativity psychology and author
1:30.8	of the creativity choice, the science of making decisions to turn ideas into action. And whether you
1:37.8	think you're creative or not, Zorana and I are talking about how motivation, attention, risk tolerance, and constraint shape the
1:47.4	process of turning ideas into reality. We're talking about how creativity is more than just
1:52.7	having the idea. It's about the execution behind it. And the two engines of creativity,
1:58.0	motivation and attention. And we're talking about how creativity thrives not in total freedom, but with a balance of creativity, motivation and attention. And we're talking about how creativity thrives not in
2:02.9	total freedom, but with a balance of structure and autonomy. So if you're stuck at the idea stage
2:09.3	or if you're afraid to start working on that idea, this episode's going to help you reframe
2:13.8	creativity as a process that you can definitely engage with and show you how to make progress
2:19.3	one decision at a time.
2:23.3	Well, it is my privilege to welcome to the show, Dr. Zorana Evtiewicz Pringle.
	...

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