In 1994, Brian Eno was given a brief for a commissioned piece of music. You’ve probably heard it – the Window’s Start Up Sound.
From an interview he gave to Joel Selvin –
“The thing from the agency said, ‘We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional,’ this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said ‘and it must be 3+1⁄4 seconds long.’
“I thought this was so funny and an amazing thought to actually try to make a little piece of music. It's like making a tiny little jewel.
“In fact, I made eighty-four pieces. I got completely into this world of tiny, tiny little pieces of music. I was so sensitive to microseconds at the end of this that it really broke a logjam in my own work. Then when I'd finished that and I went back to working with pieces that were like three minutes long, it seemed like oceans of time.””
I’ve always liked that term “oceans of time.”
Focusing on something in a completely different format or size than you’re used to working can spark a break in creativity. This can be a shorter form of what you’re already working in, or it can be a part of your work. Focus intently on just one scene for a certain amount of time.
Build a detail on your sandcastle. Then pull back to look at the ocean.