Treat Each Genius Hour Project as an Experiment-John Spencer

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Each year, I begin my Genius Hour by coming up with a list of rules. This year, these are my rules:

1. There are no time deadlines. I am a huge fan of using time deadlines as a form of creative constraint. However, Genius Hour projects are meant to be deliberately loose. I have to shut off the ultra-planner side of my brain when I sit down to work.
2. Do something new that stretches you. This is a safe space to take creative risks.
3. It can’t be about education. If I create something related to education, it slowly becomes an educator version of study hall, where I used the time to get extra work done.
4. Work on what you love. This isn’t meant to be a grind. I am a huge fan of pushing through the parts of your job that aren’t enjoyable because you find them intrinsically meaningful. It’s why I grade papers when I don’t feel like it. But this is different. It’s meant to be fun.
5. Failure is allowed. Many Genius Hour projects will fail . . . and that’s perfectly acceptable. There is no pressure to launch this work to a larger audience.
6. Present your journey at the end. My friend AJ creates a “failure report” at the end of the year and I love that idea. It’s his way of saying, “I took risks and some of them didn’t work.” So, at the end of this year, I will be sharing which projects I did and how they went.
7. Nothing is stupid. There are no dumb creative works here because the process itself is the goal. There are no stupid questions. Nothing is too shallow or too nerdy or too “off-topic” to pursue.

Make a list of anything you want to create or anything you want to learn. It’s important to remember that you have no obligation to finish any of these projects. The following are my ideas for this year. This is an ever-expanding list that will change as they year goes by.

• Write a fiction book. I have a few ideas percolating in my brain right now.
• Write The Great Gatsby But With Dogs. Nobody asked for it and it might not even sell. However, when I heard that The Great Gatsby was going into the public domain, I thought, “You know what this book needs? Dogs.” So, I’ll be lightly editing the book to make each character a dog and I’ll be creating visuals for it. Who knows? If this book turns out well, I might start a whole series called Canine Classics.
• Create the dog comic strip. I’ve tried and failed several times but I have a comic strip I want to create.
• Launch the grilled cheese channel with my kids. On each episode, we will experiment with a new way of creating grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Open a merchandise store. I’ve already started on this one and I’m having a blast.
• Create a creativity notebook focused on the idea of building creative momentum each day. I’ve already started on this one with my friend Matt Miller, who is an amazing graphic designer.