Author, educator, and award-winning architect, Donald M. Rattner, stopped by this week to expound on invaluable research into the latest psychology and productivity studies to offer practical tips for designing your writing space for maximum creative output. “Unfortunately, once you go down this rabbit hole, you could go on and on forever...” – Donald M. Rattner Donald has an art history degree from Columbia (where he graduated with honors), and a Masters of Architecture from Princeton. He's now the founder of an award-winning architecture firm and a "Creativity Architect" whose work (on the psychology of creative spaces) has been featured on CNN, in The New York Times, Work Design Magazine, Better Humans, Town & Country, and many others. His latest book, My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation, offers "48 Techniques to Boost Your Creativity at Home, According to Science." The book has a coffee table slash textbook feel to it and includes "... over 200 high-quality photos of interiors from around the world, [from] top-tier architects, designers, and creatives." So guess what we're going to dig into today? A quick note, I'm changing up the format of the show to present longer episodes presented in a single part, as opposed to two-parters split for a shorter, drive-time experience. Reach out on Twitter or over at the writerfiles.fm if you like the longer episode format better, I appreciate your feedback. Please help us learn more about you by completing this short 7-question survey If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. In this file Donald M. Rattner and I discussed: The often disparate and misleading definitions of creativity Why writers have such a unique relationship to their creative space Science-based techniques to boost your creative output Secrets behind why creativity is a 24-hour occupation The optimal noise and clutter levels for idea generation Why nature plays such a critical role in creativity and productivity And so much more! Show Notes: DonaldRattner.com My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation by Donald M. Rattner [Amazon] Donald M. Rattner on Medium  Donald M. Rattner on Facebook Kelton Reid on Twitter