Here’s a simple trick to get past the sticky, frustrating start of any creative work: let the “dirty tap” run.

Ed Sheeran tells new songwriters to picture an old tap in a vacant house: when you first twist it open, rusty water spits out; keep it running and clear water follows. Drafting works the same way - early pages will be rough, but the good lines never arrive unless the bad ones leave first.

How to actually do this:

1. Set a timer or a fixed goal (like writing for 20 minutes or coming up with 10 ideas).

2. Don’t stop to edit, judge, or fix anything while you’re working.

3. Push through the awkward, rough parts and keep moving forward.

4. When your time is up, stop. Then you can go back and polish the good bits.

Research from the University of Illinois shows that the brain’s creative quality improves after a quick burst of low-quality output because it’s working through obvious, tired patterns to reach fresh, original ideas.

Some pros swear by this:

- Sam Parr writes 10 headlines before picking the best one because he knows the “bad” ones clear space for the winners.

- Shaan Puri encourages founders to create ugly first versions of newsletters or landing pages and then improve them.

- Anne Lamott calls early drafts “shitty first drafts” in Bird by Bird accepting messiness as part of the process.

- Ira Glass reminds beginners that producing a lot is the only way to grow skill and taste.

- Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages is just three pages of brain dump every morning to clear mental clutter.

When to use this?

Any time you’re stuck, doubting your ideas, or trying to start something creative like writing, designing, planning, brainstorming. Instead of waiting for perfect ideas, open the tap and let them flow, messy and all. The clean, useful stuff only comes after you push through the rough.