Beyond the To-Do List · 2026-08-03 · 54 min
Creativity, rest, and mindset are at the center of this conversation with Natalie Nixon, author of The Creativity Leap and Move, Think, Rest . Natalie Nixon has spent two decades as a creativity strategist advising Fortune 500 companies on innovation strategy - work she calls being a "creative whisperer to the C-Suite." She's the founder of Figure 8 Thinking, and her two books make one connected argument: creativity means toggling between wonder and rigor, and rest isn't procrastination - it's fuel for better thinking. In this conversation, we cover: Rest that looks like nothing: Why Natalie assumed her best thinking - staring out the window, taking a slow walk - was procrastination, and what finally convinced her it wasn't. Wonder and rigor, not "creative types": The real definition of creativity as a toggle everyone already uses, and why "I'm not a creative person" misses the point entirely. The 90-second daydream break: The neuroscience of the default mode network, and how a short, timed pause can unstick a problem that's had you stuck for hours.
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