<p>While collaborating with others is essential in a creative process, exceptional creativity needs solitude. Interacting and brainstorming in a group is not as deep creatively as shutting down the world and being completely alone with your own craft. Creative people generally tend to be introverts.</p>
<p>The best creative minds like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein remain flexible and spend a lot of quality time in solitude, while also valuing the ideas from other sources.</p>

Exceptional Creativity

<p><strong>Prolonged solitude</strong> results in deeply profound, personal art, as we can lose ourselves in our work, being in flow without any distractions. <strong>It has to be voluntary, by choice and does not work in forced confinement</strong>.</p>
<p>Even a little bit of solitude, like being in the office an hour early, can result in some quality work before the rest of the colleagues start trickling in.</p>

Aloneness: The Raw Material For Art

<p>The enemy of great work is distraction. The more you are disconnected from the smartphone, the more ‘flow’ mode you can experience. </p>
<p>To practice solitude, try to focus on just one thing, without letting the external distractions disturb you, making it a kind of meditation.</p>

Disconnect And Enter The Flow Mode

<div><span aria-live="assertive">Volume 0%</span></div><p>In physics, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and James Clerk Maxwell, three of the greatest creative contributors, worked almost entirely alone. They profited from other people's ideas not in direct collaboration, but by reading research papers and books.</p><p>In music, Michael Jackson and Roger Waters needed the input of Quincy Jones and David Gilmour, respectively, to produce a great product.</p><p>For artist Louise Bourgeois, aloneness was the raw material of art. She writes: "After the tremendous effort you put in here, solitude, even prolonged solitude, can only be of very great benefit. Your work may well be more arduous than it was in the studio, but it will also be more personal."</p><p dir="ltr">You can lose yourself in your work, when you are <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3052061/how-solitude-can-change-your-brain-in-profound-ways" dir="ltr">consciously in the flow without distraction</a>. Louise further says: "Solitude, a rest from responsibilities, and peace of mind, will do you more good than the atmosphere of the studio and the conversations which, generally speaking, are a waste of time."</p><p dir="ltr">According to Susan Cain, author of <em dir="ltr">Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking</em>, brainstorming groups generate fewer ideas than the same number of solitary people working alone.</p><p>Solitude can be beneficial to you when certain preconditions are met. Kenneth Rubin, a developmental psychologist at the University of Maryland, calls them the "ifs."</p><p>Kenneth says solitude can be productive only: if it is voluntary, if one can regulate one's emotions "effectively," if one can join a social group when desired, and if one can maintain positive relationships outside of it. When such conditions aren't met, yes, solitude can be harmful.</p><h2>Solitude happens by choice</h2><p>You can get your best work done when you make time for solitude. Schedule time your alone moment to do meaningful work. To take advantage of silence to improve your creative work, you could get in the office an hour earlier, just so you could get some quiet work done before the office starts buzzing.</p><p>If you can't do it early, get your solitude by getting away from the office or your home. By all means, make some time for it to leverage the many benefits of silence. If you're a night owl, you can find your quiet and solitude time at night and get creative work done.</p><p>If you are distracted by too many things, it pays to disconnect. Remove distractions. Turn off notifications. Or better still, turn off your phone or mobile devices and leverage silence to think or create. In other words, block out the external world and retreat inwards.</p><p>Focusing on just one thing-without allowing distractions to intrude-can become become your own form of sacred solitude. Choosing to be alone in a somewhat disciplined manner can give you the time and space necessary to focus on your most important work.</p><figcaption class="caption"><span><b dir="ltr">Inc. helps entrepreneurs change the world. Get the advice you need to start, grow, and lead your business today. <a href="https://inc.com/subscribe?cid=dan905:660:s00:CTA_&amp;utm_source=paidDisplayOn&amp;utm_medium=edit%20article%20footer&amp;utm_campaign=dan905:660:s00:CTA_" dir="ltr"> Subscribe here</a> for unlimited access.</b></span></figcaption><div>Mar 31, 2017</div><figcaption class="caption">The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.</figcaption><div><span>More From Inc.</span></div><header><span><span>Cash Flow</span></span></header><header dir="ltr"><h2 dir="ltr">7 Ways Washington Can Help Small Businesses Now</h2><h3 dir="ltr"><span dir="ltr">Small businesses need to keep going until vaccines become widely available. For many, grants may be the best alternative.</span></h3></header><figure><picture><source media="(max-width:600px)" srcset="https://www.incimages.com/uploaded_files/image/970x450/GettyImages-1228813007a_460434.jpg"><source media="(min-width:601px)" srcset="https://www.incimages.com/uploaded_files/image/1920x1080/GettyImages-1228813007a_460434.jpg"><img src="https://www.incimages.com/uploaded_files/image/1920x1080/GettyImages-1228813007a_460434.jpg" alt="7 Ways Washington Can Help Small Businesses Now" width="635" height="357"></picture></figure><p dir="ltr">If a walk down your local Main Street doesn't tell you that small businesses are hurting, the data will: The number of open small businesses has <a href="https://tracktherecovery.org/" dir="ltr">decreased by a third</a> since January of 2020.</p><p dir="ltr">Any <a href="https://www.inc.com/peter-cohan/2021-small-business-economic-outlook.html" dir="ltr">small-business recovery</a> is going to depend largely on the speed of <a href="https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/covid-19-office-vaccine-biontech-pfizer-moderna.html" dir="ltr">vaccine distribution</a>, the ability of entrepreneurs to think creatively, and the availability of appropriate financing. With a <a href="https://www.inc.com/diana-ransom/joe-biden-first-100-days-46-president-covid-19-relief.html" dir="ltr">new administration</a> and a new Congress, we'd suggest these seven initiatives to help small companies regain their status as a force for job creation.</p><h2>1. Forget more debt: Give grants to microbusinesses.</h2><p>Many entrepreneurs&nbsp;aren't comfortable taking on more debt, no matter how generous the repayment terms. They need grants to help them through the winter and spring. As crushing as the pandemic is,&nbsp;it's not going to last forever. If an entrepreneur had a good business in 2019, they should have the opportunity to have a good business sometime in 2021, too. Let's get them through the next few months without asking them to drown in debt.</p><p dir="ltr">Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, are the most sensible way to distribute small grants, and President Biden's <a href="https://www.inc.com/diana-ransom/joe-biden-first-100-days-46-president-covid-19-relief.html" dir="ltr">proposal includes $15 billion</a> for just this purpose. In Pennsylvania, CDFIs administered the state program to make grants to small businesses hurt by Covid-19, says Dafina Williams, vice president of public policy at Opportunity Finance Network, the national association of CDFIs. CDFIs are already working with the smallest businesses, often in underserved areas, and are prepared to offer technical assistance as well as financing.</p><h2>2. Loosen restrictions on PPP money.</h2><p>A business that has partially shut down,&nbsp;or changed its&nbsp;model to run with&nbsp;fewer employees,&nbsp;is going to have a hard time getting a PPP loan forgiven. That's because even the newer version of the program requires that 60 percent of the money be used on payroll. Let's not micromanage entrepreneurs. These people know what they're doing, and know what they need to get their businesses back on their feet. Let's let them use the money for any legitimate business purpose&nbsp;and get them on the road to recovery.</p><h2>3. Make the SBA a more powerful source for growth capital.</h2><p>The Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) program guarantees up to 85 percent of loans for amounts up to $5 million. Let's let the SBA play a larger role in the recovery&nbsp;and incentivize banks to make more loans through the SBA. We can start by raising the loan cap to $10 million and boosting the guarantee rate. For loans of more than $150,000, the guarantee rate is only 75 percent, so let's get the rate to 90 percent for all SBA-backed loans.</p><p dir="ltr">Let's also get rid of borrower fees, or at least cut them dramatically. The fees vary based on the size of the loan, but for a $150,000 loan, the borrower&nbsp;pays&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/mo/st-louis/resources/understanding-sba-7a-loan-fees" dir="ltr">$2,250</a> (in addition to interest, of course); for a $5 million loan, the entrepreneur pays&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/mo/st-louis/resources/understanding-sba-7a-loan-fees" dir="ltr">$138,125</a>.</p><h2>4. Institute an employee-addition tax credit.</h2><p>The Cares Act instituted an employee-retention tax credit to encourage companies not to lay off their workers. But right now, we need small businesses to actually grow their payrolls.&nbsp;Unfortunately, companies in effect pay a tax penalty every time they add a new employee. Let's get them a tax credit instead.</p><h2>5. License smaller SBICs.</h2><p>The Small Business Investment Company program provides public money to match money raised by private investment funds. The money can be used to fund small businesses in a variety of ways, including both equity and debt. Any losses are absorbed by the private money first; historically, the SBA has run a modest&nbsp;profit on the program. Right now, SBICs seldom invest less than $1 million at a time. Some changes could help them invest in a wider range of smaller companies that also need help.</p><p>In theory, if you can raise $5 million and have run a fund before, you can apply for an SBIC license. In reality, the SBA has been hesitant to license funds smaller than $20 million, says Brett Palmer, president of the Small Business Investor Alliance. With the SBA match, that yields a fund of up to $60 million. And the bigger the fund, the bigger the check size. The larger fund size makes it very difficult for SBICs to invest less than $1 million at a time--and many small businesses much need less. "You need to allow more smaller funds to form, because they'll do smaller investments," says Palmer.</p><p>The SBA should license smaller funds, and also consider removing the rule that investors needed to have run a fund before. That sounds like a common-sense requirement, but it ensures that most SBICs are run by people who are White and male, says Palmer. Allowing successful entrepreneurs to run funds could diversify SBICs and get money to more diverse communities.</p><h2>6. Extend the FFCRA.</h2><p>The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act mandated that small companies offer paid sick leave to employees affected by Covid-19, and then gave them the money back via tax credits. It was supposed to expire at the end of 2020, but was extended until the end of March. It also was changed from a mandatory program to a voluntary one.</p><p>FFCRA is not perfect, especially if you can't use the tax credit. But right now it's the only mechanism we have in which the federal government supports paid sick leave in any way. Sick employees should be able to stay home without also worrying about the pay they're losing. That's always true, but it's especially important now. Let's extend the FFCRA at least through the end of the year.</p><h2>7. Provide interest-free loans for landlords</h2><p>For Main Street businesses that have been gutted by the pandemic, rent can be just as big a worry as payroll. You can ask employees to go on unemployment, or try to get them paid through the Paycheck Protection Program. But eviction moratoriums for businesses have mostly expired, and most landlords have limited flexibility to negotiate with tenants because of the covenants in their own bank loans. Let's ask Treasury to provide interest-free loans worth three months of rent to landlords that agree to rent moratoriums for that same period. That would help small businesses and small landlords.</p><div>Feb 9, 2021</div><div><span>Events</span></div><h1>National Small Business Town Hall: Opportunities for Black-owned Businesses</h1><div><span>Underwritten by Michigan Economic Development Corporation</span></div><h3>Thursday, February 25 at 3pm ET</h3><p>From the latest on PPE loans to finding funding for your business to winning government contracts and securing strategic partners, find out what Black-owned businesses can do now to move forward.</p>

Collaboration is key to creativity, but exceptional creativity often happens in solitude. Many great artistic masterpieces were done in isolation. Elizabeth Bishop, an American poet and short-story writer believed that everyone should experience at least one prolonged period of solitude in life.

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<p>In physics, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and James Clerk Maxwell, three of the greatest creative contributors, worked almost entirely alone. They profited from other people's ideas not in direct collaboration, but by reading research papers and books. </p>

<p>In music, Michael Jackson and Roger Waters needed the input of Quincy Jones and David Gilmour, respectively, to produce a great product. </p>

<p>For artist Louise Bourgeois, aloneness was the raw material of art. She writes: "After the tremendous effort you put in here, solitude, even prolonged solitude, can only be of very great benefit. Your work may well be more arduous than it was in the studio, but it will also be more personal." </p>

<p dir="ltr">You can lose yourself in your work, when you are <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3052061/how-solitude-can-change-your-brain-in-profound-ways">consciously in the flow without distraction </a>. Louise further says: "Solitude, a rest from responsibilities, and peace of mind, will do you more good than the atmosphere of the studio and the conversations which, generally speaking, are a waste of time." </p>

<p dir="ltr">According to Susan Cain, author of <em dir="ltr">Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking </em>, brainstorming groups generate fewer ideas than the same number of solitary people working alone. </p>

<p>Solitude can be beneficial to you when certain preconditions are met. Kenneth Rubin, a developmental psychologist at the University of Maryland, calls them the "ifs." </p>

<p>Kenneth says solitude can be productive only: if it is voluntary, if one can regulate one's emotions "effectively," if one can join a social group when desired, and if one can maintain positive relationships outside of it. When such conditions aren't met, yes, solitude can be harmful. </p>

<p>You can get your best work done when you make time for solitude. Schedule time your alone moment to do meaningful work. To take advantage of silence to improve your creative work, you could get in the office an hour earlier, just so you could get some quiet work done before the office starts buzzing. </p>

<p>If you can't do it early, get your solitude by getting away from the office or your home. By all means, make some time for it to leverage the many benefits of silence. If you're a night owl, you can find your quiet and solitude time at night and get creative work done. </p>

<p>If you are distracted by too many things, it pays to disconnect. Remove distractions. Turn off notifications. Or better still, turn off your phone or mobile devices and leverage silence to think or create. In other words, block out the external world and retreat inwards. </p>

<p>Focusing on just one thing-without allowing distractions to intrude-can become become your own form of sacred solitude. Choosing to be alone in a somewhat disciplined manner can give you the time and space necessary to focus on your most important work. </p>

<b dir="ltr">Inc. helps entrepreneurs change the world. Get the advice you need to start, grow, and lead your business today. <a dir="ltr" href="https://inc.com/subscribe?cid=dan905:660:s00:CTA_&amp;utm_source=paidDisplayOn&amp;utm_medium=edit%20article%20footer&amp;utm_campaign=dan905:660:s00:CTA_">Subscribe here </a>for unlimited access. </b>

7 Ways Washington Can Help Small Businesses Now

Small businesses need to keep going until vaccines become widely available. For many, grants may be the best alternative.

<p dir="ltr">If a walk down your local Main Street doesn't tell you that small businesses are hurting, the data will: The number of open small businesses has <a dir="ltr" href="https://tracktherecovery.org/">decreased by a third </a>since January of 2020. </p>

<p dir="ltr">Any <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.inc.com/peter-cohan/2021-small-business-economic-outlook.html">small-business recovery </a>is going to depend largely on the speed of <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/covid-19-office-vaccine-biontech-pfizer-moderna.html">vaccine distribution </a>, the ability of entrepreneurs to think creatively, and the availability of appropriate financing. With a <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.inc.com/diana-ransom/joe-biden-first-100-days-46-president-covid-19-relief.html">new administration </a>and a new Congress, we'd suggest these seven initiatives to help small companies regain their status as a force for job creation. </p>

1. Forget more debt: Give grants to microbusinesses.

<p>Many entrepreneurs aren't comfortable taking on more debt, no matter how generous the repayment terms. They need grants to help them through the winter and spring. As crushing as the pandemic is, it's not going to last forever. If an entrepreneur had a good business in 2019, they should have the opportunity to have a good business sometime in 2021, too. Let's get them through the next few months without asking them to drown in debt. </p>

<p dir="ltr">Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, are the most sensible way to distribute small grants, and President Biden's <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.inc.com/diana-ransom/joe-biden-first-100-days-46-president-covid-19-relief.html">proposal includes $15 billion </a>for just this purpose. In Pennsylvania, CDFIs administered the state program to make grants to small businesses hurt by Covid-19, says Dafina Williams, vice president of public policy at Opportunity Finance Network, the national association of CDFIs. CDFIs are already working with the smallest businesses, often in underserved areas, and are prepared to offer technical assistance as well as financing. </p>

<p>A business that has partially shut down, or changed its model to run with fewer employees, is going to have a hard time getting a PPP loan forgiven. That's because even the newer version of the program requires that 60 percent of the money be used on payroll. Let's not micromanage entrepreneurs. These people know what they're doing, and know what they need to get their businesses back on their feet. Let's let them use the money for any legitimate business purpose and get them on the road to recovery. </p>

3. Make the SBA a more powerful source for growth capital.

<p>The Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) program guarantees up to 85 percent of loans for amounts up to $5 million. Let's let the SBA play a larger role in the recovery and incentivize banks to make more loans through the SBA. We can start by raising the loan cap to $10 million and boosting the guarantee rate. For loans of more than $150,000, the guarantee rate is only 75 percent, so let's get the rate to 90 percent for all SBA-backed loans. </p>

<p dir="ltr">Let's also get rid of borrower fees, or at least cut them dramatically. The fees vary based on the size of the loan, but for a $150,000 loan, the borrower pays <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/mo/st-louis/resources/understanding-sba-7a-loan-fees">$2,250 </a>(in addition to interest, of course); for a $5 million loan, the entrepreneur pays <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/mo/st-louis/resources/understanding-sba-7a-loan-fees">$138,125 </a>. </p>

4. Institute an employee-addition tax credit.

<p>The Cares Act instituted an employee-retention tax credit to encourage companies not to lay off their workers. But right now, we need small businesses to actually grow their payrolls. Unfortunately, companies in effect pay a tax penalty every time they add a new employee. Let's get them a tax credit instead. </p>

<p>The Small Business Investment Company program provides public money to match money raised by private investment funds. The money can be used to fund small businesses in a variety of ways, including both equity and debt. Any losses are absorbed by the private money first; historically, the SBA has run a modest profit on the program. Right now, SBICs seldom invest less than $1 million at a time. Some changes could help them invest in a wider range of smaller companies that also need help. </p>

<p>In theory, if you can raise $5 million and have run a fund before, you can apply for an SBIC license. In reality, the SBA has been hesitant to license funds smaller than $20 million, says Brett Palmer, president of the Small Business Investor Alliance. With the SBA match, that yields a fund of up to $60 million. And the bigger the fund, the bigger the check size. The larger fund size makes it very difficult for SBICs to invest less than $1 million at a time--and many small businesses much need less. "You need to allow more smaller funds to form, because they'll do smaller investments," says Palmer. </p>

<p>The SBA should license smaller funds, and also consider removing the rule that investors needed to have run a fund before. That sounds like a common-sense requirement, but it ensures that most SBICs are run by people who are White and male, says Palmer. Allowing successful entrepreneurs to run funds could diversify SBICs and get money to more diverse communities. </p>

<p>The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act mandated that small companies offer paid sick leave to employees affected by Covid-19, and then gave them the money back via tax credits. It was supposed to expire at the end of 2020, but was extended until the end of March. It also was changed from a mandatory program to a voluntary one. </p>

<p>FFCRA is not perfect, especially if you can't use the tax credit. But right now it's the only mechanism we have in which the federal government supports paid sick leave in any way. Sick employees should be able to stay home without also worrying about the pay they're losing. That's always true, but it's especially important now. Let's extend the FFCRA at least through the end of the year. </p>

7. Provide interest-free loans for landlords

<p>For Main Street businesses that have been gutted by the pandemic, rent can be just as big a worry as payroll. You can ask employees to go on unemployment, or try to get them paid through the Paycheck Protection Program. But eviction moratoriums for businesses have mostly expired, and most landlords have limited flexibility to negotiate with tenants because of the covenants in their own bank loans. Let's ask Treasury to provide interest-free loans worth three months of rent to landlords that agree to rent moratoriums for that same period. That would help small businesses and small landlords. </p>

National Small Business Town Hall: Opportunities for Black-owned Businesses

<p>From the latest on PPE loans to finding funding for your business to winning government contracts and securing strategic partners, find out what Black-owned businesses can do now to move forward. </p>

The Science of Silence: How Solitude Enriches Creative Work

Exceptional Creativity

Aloneness: The Raw Material For Art

Disconnect And Enter The Flow Mode

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