Renew You!

4 ways to get your creativity flowing 

Creativity is the ability to create an original and unique thought or idea. In a business setting, it’s most often associated with marketing where it’s more about explaining an idea creatively. But there are many ways to be creative in a business setting—just steer clear of creative accounting!

Regardless of what the end goal of your creativity is, here are some tips on how to best get those creative juices flowing.

Random word or object association

When posed with a problem, look around at the items in your immediate vicinity and try to use them to find a solution.

For example: 

You need to figure out a place to put a new potted flower. You look at your desk and conclude that you don’t want to place it there. On the desk you see a sea shell and think – The beach, I can’t put it on a beach! No, that doesn’t make sense. Next you see a pencil.  That does nothing for you, but the cil portion of the word makes you think of a window sill and – voila! – your new potted flower has found a home on your window sill. 

Create a mind map

This is an exercise in which you take a piece of paper and, in the center, write down a problem or objective. From there, start creating different branches or sub-sections of that problem. And from each sub-section, write down whatever words or thoughts come to mind. Like the previous exercise, this is a form of word association. By writing down all your thoughts you’ll end up with a “map” of them which can serve as an invaluable source of inspiration when trying to tackle the issue at hand. Click here for some examples of mind maps.

Don’t think about it!

It may seem counter-intuitive, but often the best way to come up with a unique or creative idea is to not actively think about it. There’s a theory that creativity comes from one’s subconscious, and that we’re at our most creative when we engage in other “mindless” activities which allow our subconscious to do its work. This is the reason people go on a long walk or shoot hoops when they’re stuck on a problem. This is also the reason why our best ideas often come in the shower or while driving to work. 

Carry a small notebook

As quickly as inspiration strikes, it can disappear. If you are driving to work and come up with a great idea, but have no way of getting it down on paper, it can be a monumental struggle to stay focused on the idea until you get to work and make note of it. Carrying a small notebook and pen will ensure that you won’t lose that million dollar idea when it strikes.

What do you do to open up your creativity?