Creativity is a craft to be learned, exercised, and polished, just like any other activity. Juggling takes practice, as does surfing, coding, and driving a car. Creativity is no different. The more you make creativity part of your daily life, the more it will grow.
Our culture thinks of creativity as a ‘natural gift.’ Artists get showered with appreciation and exclamations, “Oh, you’re so talented, ” but honestly, talent has very little to do with it.
Whether you’re resolving a problem, composing a blog post, crafting a report or planning your next product, practicing your creativity is one of the best solutions for getting the project done with artistry and style.
With that in mind, here are 19 ideas to help anyone become more creative:
Stream-of consciousness writing – this is where you just start writing anything and continue to write as the words and ideas flow. At first, it may be silly nonsense, but you’ll be surprised how fast your words and ideas can coalesce into something truly inspired.
Carry a notebook – by jotting down ideas as soon as they appear, two things happen. First, you don’t forget your ideas because you’ve got a written record. Second, the act of writing them down tells your subconscious that you want ideas, which will encourage it to give you even more.
Make to-do lists – the very act of writing things down frees up your mind to be more creative.
Take breaks from your work – get up, walk around, play 5 minutes of hopscotch – whatever. Just take a breather.
Get up and go – leave your computer at home, take your notebook and get away from the office. Go anywhere – a park, the mall, a coffee shop, a museum – just get out, getaway and soak up some different surroundings. Physically move your body and consider your project problem from different locations. Physical movement has been shown to have a positive effect on creative thinking, just as actors practicing lines in different poses and positions to create new character approaches.
Get near water, especially if it’s moving – studies show that being near moving water floods you with negative ions, which makes you feel good and can boost your creativity. Remember how you get some of your best ideas in the shower? That’s why.
Talk nice to yourself – positive self-talk on how creative you are will produce more ideas. Beating yourself up for being a dummy won’t.
Try some caffeine. If you don’t normally drink caffeine, one cup of coffee or tea can have remarkable effects on your thinking. If you do use caffeine daily, the effect won’t be nearly as pronounced.
Clean off your desk/room – nothing stifles creativity like a messy, cluttered desk or room.
Read something different – an article on a topic you know nothing about, a page out of the dictionary, a chapter out of a random book, etc. You never know what it will trigger for you.
Doing things with your non-dominant hand – this can help activate the connection between the two sides of your brain.
Be open to new ideas – all too often we dismiss an idea before giving it a real chance. Even if you think it’s a bad idea, try playing devil’s advocate and find all the reasons why it’s a good idea – you might be surprised.
Collaboration – two heads are better than one, and 5 are better than 2. Form a mastermind group, present a problem, and then let the ideas flow. The only rule: No one shoots down an idea.
Sleep on it – give your subconscious your problem or need: “I need 3 new blog post ideas by tomorrow morning.” Then let it go and see what your subconscious finds for you.
Make friends with your mistakes – when you goof up or make the wrong decision, realize it’s not the end of the world, it’s simply something that didn’t work. This allows your creativity to continue to flow.
If I Had Only 6 Hours To Cut Down A Tree, I’d Spend 4 Hours Sharpening My Axe
A. Lincoln
Deliberately break the rules – not the big ones like “do not steal,” but the little ones like “this is what a blog post / new product/video should look like.”
Be yourself – don’t worry about what others might think because no great idea is without naysayers anyway. In fact, if everyone thinks your idea is great, then it’s probably not.
Doodle Away – Doodling does not prove a lack of focus. In fact, doodling can help you stay present and engaged during an activity which might otherwise find yourself drifting away.
Role-Playing – Role-playing isn’t just for geeks. Role-playing can help you develop new solutions to existing problems by putting yourself in the position of a client or customer.
One last tip: Ask “Why?” and “Why not?” – a lot. Often times we just accept things as they are, when there could be a whopper of an idea just staring us in the face the whole time. You may just have to peek around the corner.
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