We were lucky to catch up with Dainius Krasauskas recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dainius, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Creativity, to me, is deeply intertwined with how you explore life. Interestingly, the strongest psychological indicator of creativity is a person’s openness to new experiences. So, to keep it alive, I approach life like a sponge. I just love absorbing everything around me. It’s in small, everyday moments that inspiration sparks. And the more I expose myself to the unfamiliar, the more creativity thrives.
A movie you’ve never seen, a song you’ve never heard, a museum you’ve never visited, cuisine you’ve never tasted, a person you’ve never chatted with… These experiences plant new dots in your brain. And creativity sparks when those dots connect, forming new paths that lead to new ideas.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Since I was a kid, I have always been super curious and had a knack for anything creative. I loved doing artistic things and coming up with unorthodox solutions to problems. I grew up with relatively few resources until my early teens and I truly believe that was one of my life’s greatest blessings. It made me grateful, imaginative and gave me an inner drive to chase dreams and create things by myself.
This deep commitment to creativity is what inspires me to this day. Since I was a teenager, I’ve made my money doing things I absolutely love: Video creation, writing, music production, strategic communications — and I’m really lucky that I never had to deviate from this path. Every second I work with inspiring people and challenge my creative instincts fill me with unbelievable joy. Particularly when the work I do brings positivity and inspiration to others.
Since moving to the United States and Los Angeles two years ago, I have embraced this spirit even more. I now work full-time in the automotive industry and freelance as a content producer and creative strategist.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
To create a fulfilling life with creative work (one where you can pay your bills and bring joy to others), I believe these three qualities are invaluable: curiosity, industriousness and organizational skills.
Curiosity is critical to staying plugged-in. You need to understand your audience. And for that, you need a hunger for knowledge and information. That can mean many things. For example, I love exploring data, drifting down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, watching movies, listening to podcasts, and exploring scientific research. Most of the time I do these things very actively, not passively — and that is crucial. Without committing yourself to lifelong curiosity, creating new ideas is tough.
Industriousness is another key quality. You simply have to work hard. There is no short cut. To create different, unique things, you can’t be an indifferent person. In creative professions in particular that is vital, as you have to create your own luck. You do that by trying — and failing — many many times, until your chances to succeed are big enough to get you where you to the next step. Without hard work, that’s virtually impossible.
Lastly, organizational skills are important. I know that sounds boring. But all too often, creative people are disorganized and unreliable. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help in the real world, where you have to deliver something for a client, a colleague, or your boss. Being professional and organized is a non-negotiable.
Luckily, all these things can be learned through motivation, self-discipline and, most importantly, habit. Understand how and why these qualities matter and find your way to improve them. Of course, that’s easier said than done. But I know it’s possible. I might have always been curious, but I certainly wasn’t always industrious or organized. Now, I hope I can say I am all three. And I’m still working every day to improve these skills.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
One book I read earlier this year that really impacted me was “Four Thousand Weeks — Time Management for Mortals” by Oliver Burkeman. It’s strange; I don’t recall enjoying the process of reading it all that much. It was good, don’t get me wrong, and it kept me relatively motivated to continue reading — but I didn’t expect it to change much of my behavior. Yet, looking back, I realize it really drilled into me how we should think about time.
For me, it highlighted once more the importance of free time and leisure — but that this is only truly valuable when others have time too. To know that, I find, is very important.
On a more practical side, he suggests focusing on just three or four big tasks a day, avoiding the trap of doing small, insignificant tasks first just to feel productive — that’s not real productivity (and rather the opposite.) Ever since, I got way better at prioritizing what really matters, even if that means missing deadlines or keeping people waiting for small things that are not important. You just can’t have it all.
Most importantly, Burkeman warns against stressing over being super productive and self-improving every minute of your existence. Yes it’s important to work on yourself and get shit done, but it’s not what life should be about all the time. Often, the magic is in the moment itself — not the past, not the future. In these moments, time can feel so real, it’s almost like you can “bite into it.” And i can deeply resonate with that. I truly believe being in flow in the moment is extremely important to live a fulfilling creative life.
If you want to read one great book on time management, it should be this one!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dainius.online
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dainiuskrasauskas/
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