There’s a deep desire in me to continue how learn how to be more and more creative in my work, family and life in general. The other day I stumbled across THIS POST entitled “10 Proven Ways To Be More Creative.” Here’s the 10 they listed. My thoughts are in parenthesis.
1. Get on a plane. Travel, moving and exposure to other cultures improve creativity. (No doubt)
2. Don’t surround yourself with the color red, stick to blue. (Have no idea what this has to do with creativity but I’ll try it)
3. Get rejected. (I’ve seen this over and over in my life. I’m currently re-working a manuscript I had rejected and I think it’s going to be 10x better in the long run)
4. Buy a potted plant. (I garden and it’s a great mental break)
5. Pretend you’re solving problems for someone else. Or pretend you’re a child. (Love the idea of thinking like a child)
6. Learn another language. (I’ve always wanted to learn Spanish)
7. Think about love, not sex. (Ummmmm, Okay, I’ll try)
8. Hopeful employees are more creative, as are overconfident CEO’s. But being creative won’t get you the CEO job.
9. Take a break and stop being so hard on yourself. (I wrote about this in detail HERE)
10. Smile. Or frown while happy. But either way, be happy. (Is anyone else humming a certain song right now?)
So, I thought these 10 were great but let’s add to it today. I would love to get a list of 50 or even 100 ways to be creative.
Leave me 1 thing that helps you be more creative and leave me a link to your blog or twitter or facebook (whatever you want me to link to). Next week I’ll do a post listing all the creative ideas and linking them back to you.
It will be a great way for us to compile some new ideas on creativity as well as meet a few new people in the process.
Ready? Set. Go.
Try a different way of expressing your ideas. If you usually work on your computer, try writing by hand. If you usually work with dot-points, try mind mapping. Maybe you could try poetry rather than prose.
joannamuses.com
Get in a room with a friend (or over a lunch table). Sometimes I find myself stuck, but just fleshing it out with a friend opens up a whole new line of thought/creativity that I couldn’t have come up with on my own.
Chatting through my thoughts with a friend is always a huge help for me too!
Find one thing you don’t normally do, then do it. Being creative is about getting outside the human need to be scheduled. Just this one thing throws you off just enough to open us some really creative doors.
Chocolate. Well, I think it works, but I’m still in the testing phase.
Seriously … I get into the kitchen and either cook or bake. Making a dish or a dessert, without interruptions or time pressure, gives me the chance to be creative in a different way than I usually am. After I bake (and, I hope, get positive feedback from my family), I can return to writing or problem-solving with a refreshed mind.
I truly believe writing in a daily journal allows us an outlet to be creative. A gratitude journal has changed my perception on what I feel grateful for in a given day. There was a time in my life when I couldn’t think of anything to be grateful for, even when asked. I was hopeless thou. We can only keep what we have, by giving it away. Thanks for sharing. Not sure about the color Red either.
@shane_snyder
I always find my creative juices flowing when I surrounded myself with all things creative – whether it’s simply browsing through a store like Michael’s or AC Moore, or going to a demonstration, craft show, writing workshop, etc. I get to feeling empowered that I can do whatever the thing is that’s being presented, and off I go!
I’m a strong believer in coloring my way through writer’s block, or anything else that needs to have my creative juices flowing – yet is met with a blockage.
There is just something very relaxing, and freeing, about grabbing a coloring book and some crayons and really getting into the process! The secret is to make sure you’re using off the wall colors for things. Maybe make that blue sky, pink. The elephant purple…. in other words, no limits, color like a preschooler who hasn’t been boxed into the world of appropriate colors and the rules of staying within the lines! Just go wild!
You’ll be amazed at what you can do after you put that coloring book away!
Starting with a completely blank slate helps me get creative.
Whether it’s a message or a graphic piece, looking at a completely blank document or “canvas” forces me to think about the endless possibilities that can come from where there is originally nothing.
@dantowle1020
Great Post, Pete. Creative! Here’s my thought: Get a new perspective by working in a new environment. Take your laptop to a library, coffee shop or even a park where you’ve never been. I’ve done this and it is powerful. I recently just drove the beltway and some side streets of our city where I’ve never been and just prayed for the city. You see things from a whole new perspective. The creative juices flowed in rivers!
Love that idea, Scott!
Agreed. I’ll often just move to the dinner table instead of the desk in my office.
I’m not sure why, but my best story ideas seem to pop up when I’m blow drying my hair. Go figger? It happened about a month ago and I cannot WAIT to write this new novel! Then again, the bathroom isn’t necessarily the optimal creative ambience . . . So I’d have to say fresh air does it for me too. We all spend so much time indoors working – especially as a writer, I’m at my computer waaaaay too much. So when I step out on the back porch or just take a walk and breathe in that fresh air – oh baby. LOVE that.
Thanks for the post, Pete!
http://dianemoody.blogspot.com/
The outdoors totally does it for me too, Diane.
I appreciate many of the ideas listed below and have put some of them into practice.
I listen to music or spoken word or even a pod-cast that stimulates my thinking… it is especially helpful to listen to people with differing theologies, ideologies, or political perspective because that causes my mind to truly think instead of simply absorb and regurgitate another person’s ideas.
I visit the local Goodwill store. There’s usually a good number of interesting chotchkes on the sales floor, and I always find something that’ll get my creative juices flowing.
Go crazy. Ok, not literally, but go out and have some fun that’s different from what you normally do. My daughter and I just took a road trip, stopping at all the quirkiest places along our route. We had a blast and it shook up some new ideas. The account of our journey was posted on my old blogging platform (http://laurac-payingattention.blogspot.com/2011/09/lucy-and-ethel-road-trip.html).
Fun idea, Laura… and what memories for the two of you!
Jon Acuff had a great point this week. I seem to get more creative in the shower, but as he said, it’s not the environment… it’s the one place where you can have complete solitude without interruptions or distractions. So, I guess quiet solitude where you can focus on your thoughts.
I agree completely. When I was thinking about the essential elements of my “solution,” I also realized that the absence of interruptions was key.
Spend some time in a park or on your back porch. Nothing helps me get to a creative place better than some solitude in the open air with just the sounds of nature and life.
Take a walk and imagine the world around you through the eyes of the people you see. In the park, imagine what the little boy on the slide is experiencing.. or the guys playing ultimate frisbee..
This takes you out of your own mind set and preconceptions and gives you new ground to stand on for a while.
This is gonna sound like a Jesus-juke, and I don’t intend for it to be. But in my life, when I seek creativity, often there is none. But when I seek intimacy with my Creator, then He gives me creativity, not as an end, but as a gift of the relationship. I told you it would sound like a Jesus-juke.
That’s good Gary.
Running/exercising. I actually don’t like running, but have been keeping at it for the last couple years and find that it totally clears my head of all the junk and allows me to focus in on my creativity. I work in a creative field and whenever I need to come up with a fresh idea, I go for a run and almost always have a solution to put on my client’s/boss’s desk.
I like it. Get outnof the house or office!!
To jumpstart my creative drive, I open myself up to questions I’m afraid or don’t know how to answer. Always be a learner.
If there’s a status quo, question it. If there’s a normal habit, ask “why?” And if there’s only one path, forge a new one. Questioning always leads to more creative solutions; in writing, speaking, design, marketing, faith, and ….
http://merging.wordpress.com/jakes-blog
http://www.jakekaufmanstories.com
Be fearless – just makes me think of what a relatively famous singer songwriter said to me last night – some details on him (but not specifially about his comments) can be found on my recent blogpost here: http://www.Gerardmaclellan.com
- thanks for sharing
Surround myself regularly with people who inspire me and with whom I can brainstorm with. Nothing like multiple creative people to inspire days of ideas! My team is up to 7 independent professionals and when we gather on behalf or with a client – it’s amazing what we come up with. prosperimage.com
Any time I get to spend outside gets me feeling creative, but recently my girl friends and I have been really excited about Pinterest. We love pinning all sorts of things we have created ourselves and stuff that we want to do in the future. Then we have girls craft nights about every quarter. When you get a bunch of creative girls together we can create some pretty amazing stuff!
Get in a room with 3 or 4 other like-minded people and bounce ideas off each other. Oh and remember what Maxwell says “let the best idea win.” collective collaboration.
Being around young children opens up my creativity quite often. They have boundless energy and don’t box me in! I love hanging out with my Monday morning crew (2-4 yr olds) getting ready for the week ahead! That along with the fresh air of the playground, of course!
Go on blog-stalking hiatus for 30 days. When you come back, ONLY follow blogs that inspire. Such a great way to get perspective and spend time understanding your own creativity instead of someone elses.
Did I make the cut?
Espresso, hands down!!
If you drive to work (as opposed to working from home), go a COMPLETELY different way to work, and leave AT LEAST 30 minutes before you need to so you can slow down and enjoy some scenery on your drive.
If you work from home, get up and get out of the house and back to your house BEFORE your work day starts. On the drive to whereever you go, just notice the beauty around you and begin praising God not for your answered prayers, but just praise Him for who He is in your life. Then, wave to at least 5 people while you’re driving, and offer them a smile.
You’d be surprised, but it works wonders…
follow me on Twitter – @_jason_adams
Thanks, Pete!
I live in a historic town. I love talking walks & stopping at various places to read. I also love reading Psalms. When I dive in a phrases typically capture my imagination.
I thought I submitted a comment on this earlier, but for some reason, it isn’t showing up….weird.
Here’s something that works for me: do something that scares you.
I’m not talking like, BOO! scared, I’m talking about doing something you are completely unsure of (probably risky). It works for me because I tend to choose what is safe, so when I break out of the norm and do something that scares me, it always results in me becoming more receptive to inspiration and it breaks down mental barriers.
One thing that helps me be creative is being a dad. I am constantly being inspired by my three daughters.
kevinmartineau.ca
I do a few things.
I journal. I heard at a writers workshop a couple of things that got me into journaling more. 1) a pen is cheap therapy and 2) always write something everyday. Since doing these things, I have been able to find myself more creative.
I also have discovered walking/running is bringing about more creative ideas than I ever imagined. It is actually getting a bit addicting, because when I am walking/running…I find my mind clearing and able to take in my surroundings, music I am listening to, and things going on in my life easier.
And lately, I have found when I am making up lesson plans for my son (we homeschool), I find my creativity being accessed. Then, when I put those lessons into action…I find I am accessing that creativity even more so, because on the fly sometimes I need to figure out a way to grasp the attention of my son so he can understand what we are learning together that day.
And my blog is relevantbrokenness.com (forgot to input that in my initial reply)
I know YOU have never done this and you tease me about it but don’t mock it till ya try it!
Take yourself on a date to a movie. Just you. Totally different experience than going with someone.
Express your creativity in a different, unfamiliar form. E.g. if you’re a writer, get paint and brushes and tell the story in colours rather than words. Or if you’re a musician, shoot a short film/sculpt some clay. If you’re multilingual, it helps to work in another language, too — preferably one you aren’t very fluent in.
Removing our strongest creative ability and relying on a weaker/nonexistent one often enables us to do things we’d otherwise be scared to do in case it didn’t turn out perfect. We can usually forgive ourselves for not turning out brilliant work every time if it’s something we’re beginners in; it’s harder if it’s something we’re well known for because we tend to expect flawless results.
I love to “people watch” so a good quirky coffee shop helps me get a little bit outside of myself and and helps me think from different angles. I also recommend trying something you think you wouldn’t like or wouldn’t be good at…I have done this for my kids at times (such as crafts, or sports) and then find that it’s fun, not so bad and boosts my confidence.
See what other people are doing…then figure out how to make the ideas that resonate with you work for you. Or take those ideas to the next level.
For me, this is what blogs, Tumblr, and Twitter are all about. While some might see it as wasting time, I think of it as research. I love seeing creativity in other people, and it inspires me to get creative and try out new things. The ideas I see are launching pads for my own.
Being around children sparks my creativity because they are so full of ideas, joy for life and little inhibitions about the world. I love just listening to my nieces and nephew talk, problem solve, come up with things to do, and of course it never fails to make me laugh too!
Small changes in everyday habits can open your brain. Brush your teeth with the opposite hand. It’s going to make your brain engage in new ways to process familiar tasks.
I take pictures of everyday stuff, like leftover spaghetti, or a scrubbie that came apart, and write a story to go with it. Goofy, but it works for me.
I have not really done this, but I would like to.
Try to surround your self with beautiful things. I seem to find when I am blessed by noticing something beautiful here and there it seems to spur me. Would love to cultivate that.
(I would suppose also it would depend on what the nature of your creativity is.)
Have a “ME” day. It is kind of like you said in Church today. Take sometime to be alone. When you do this your creative side can’t help, but let loose. It is hard to be ourselves and be creative with all the noise in our lives. Just take a “Me” day and do what makes you happy. I find when I do things that make me happy, I am in a better mood and the ideas just start flowing…..
Hey Pete. Love that you’re giving us a place to discuss this. It’s part of who God made us to be and we need to grow in creativity, I think.
Make a list of 100 questions – Usually questions mean we are looking for a solution, i.e. idea, concept. By making a list of questions, you exercise curiosity and an inquisitive part of your brain that may have been asleep for a while. By forcing yourself to ask 100 questions, you may find there are more questions and the more the merrier. Wake up your curiosity.
I’m very passionate about the study and discussion of creativity and also how it ties into theology.
Twitter: @creativebridge
Exposure to Good Art. Usually visual art, but this can apply to film, theatre, and literature. once I get curious, creativity comes in floods, not just a stream.
Talk to me wife.
Creativity can be taught. My wife has been an art teacher for 27 years and has been teaching her students to be creative during that time. It is possible to learn skills that produce creativity… seriously.
Open the dictionary (a real, tangible, paper copy) to a random page. Without looking or thinking point to a word. Read the definition and begin writing. Not thinking and trying to write. Just write for 60 seconds or so and see what comes of it. Its a good way to loosen up instead of being so strategic and intentional with words. Just write and write from the heart. That’s why I fell in love with writing anyways.
Replace thinking about starting with actually starting. This is by far the creative step I wrestle with the most.
Someone may have already said this, but I think #2 on the list has political undertones. Anyways, my suggestion would be to write a poem with a definite rhyme scheme, or a meaningful haiku.
Make time to be creative and follow through. Make an appointment with yourself if you have to. If we wait until we feel it, it won’t happen. Discipline us a huge part of creativity for me.
Push back from the computer and go do something else for awhile while letting yourself mull things over. For me, doing some housework or going for a run while I let my thoughts skip around on something can spark an idea that gets things flowing again.
Here’s one that I work diligently on because I have the greatest trouble with: Acknowledging that the unique strengths that God prepared me with, can result in creating something that no one else can. Sometimes we can all forget that we are equipped to do something unique; we need to remember that and allow it to happen.
go back to basics. do things by hand.
I’m a Pastor/Communicator, so for being creative in message prep, every once in a while I like to walk through the local Home Depot or hardware store, looking at all the different items and in 30 secs or less determining how that item will preach (illustrate a spiritual principle). I’ve done this exercise with interns too or challenged my students while driving somewhere together to list any object and within 10 secs I tell them how the object could preach! It’s a fun exercise, but also has led to some creative messages!
@jeremyalbrecht (twitter)
I start with a marker, a blank slate – big piece of paper, or a dry erase board, or whatever – and my current favorite album on my iPod (has to be headphones, not speakers – block out everything else). Depending on how much time I have, I set a limit – no talking, no other ideas, for 30 minutes or so. Write whatever concept/idea/goal I have in the middle, and start writing/doodling whatever comes to mind without thinking about any of it too much. When the album’s over, I step back and can usually pick out a couple good, creative ideas.
This works great with a team too (headphones not required here!), especially if you can cover a wall in paper. No one is allowed to talk. When you’re done, everyone has given all their ideas without fear of criticism, and some have been commented on, circled, starred, etc. It’s surprising what comes of it sometimes.
Defending my family championship belt by wrestling with one of my kids helps me.
Something about humiliating small children that gets my creative juices flowing.