20 Ways to Spark Creativity
When you think of creativity, most of us tend to think of designers, advertisers, or writers. However, in a custom business, not only do the designers need to be creative, so do salespeople, managers, owners, and marketers.
A salesperson benefits when they creative with their closing strategies, a manager excels when they are creative with their plans, owners make more connections when they are creative with networking, and marketers gain more attention to their ads when they are creative.
Being creative makes you stand out as it captures curiosity and stimulates energy. If the same ideas and processes are implemented over and over again, boredom and stagnancy can prevail. As a creative agency or shop, it's vital to keep creativity flowing in many areas of your business.
One of the best ways to spark creativity is to try something new. When you do the same thing day after day, you are reprocessing the same ideas, thoughts, emotions and external stimulation. This stifles creativity.
When you try something new, you expand your awareness and open your mind to new ideas, new ways of thinking and new images. This newness allows you to expand your creative abilities.
Here are some suggestions of new activities to try:
Take a different route to work each day. Observe different landmarks, landscapes and learn new routes.
Try a new food to explore new taste, smell and texture.
Visit the fragrance counter and smell a scent you never did. Wear it for a day.
Learn a new word everyday. When you expand your vocabulary, you expand the way you speak and write. This is great for bloggers, advertisers, marketers, and managers.
Watch a TV show you typically would never watch. This gives you insight into the way other people think and enjoy entertainment.
Listen to a new radio station or music channel. Hearing different types of sounds, melodies and tones will stimulate new ideas and feelings.
Share lunch with a co-worker you never shared lunch with. Get to know them better.
Buy a new spice and cook with it. Blend it with a variety of other spices, oils and vinegar to discover a new flavor.
Do a new exercise. Try pilates, rollerblading, dancing, or use a different machine at the gym. Moving your body in a new way open your mind.
Focus differently. Instead of looking at the ground when you walk, look into the sky.
Instead of playing a game on your phone, play a board game. Looking in the eyes of another person while playing, being competitive, laughing together and the touch of the games pieces allows for new ideas.
Learn to hula-hoop. It's not as easy as it looks. But the focus on using your body differently will give you new insight of how the body works.
Discover a new way to use a paper clip. There are some in your office, pick one up and see how else you can use it.
Learn about someone that is in a completely different career than you. Talk to a chef, an actor, or a biologist. Be curious about their way of thinking, time management methods and interests.
Dream differently. Most likely, you have imagined what you would like your future self to be. Imagine your future self as someone totally different. What would wear, eat, drink and be for fun?
Visit an art gallery. Study patterns, scenes, and colors. Imagine the artist's mindset of an intriguing piece. Watch how others study art.
Learn from a business that offers products and services that differ from yours. Learn their sales strategies, their patterns, their marketing plans, and more.
Watch videos created by coaches, leaders, influencers about success, leadership, creativity and other inspiration.
Watch how children play and interact with one another.
Study the patterns of animals. Discover how they interact, sleep, play, hunt and eat.
Trying something new stimulates your mind, expands your awareness, and arouses imagination. Try some of the suggestions and let us know how you became more creative. We enjoy hearing how you become more productive, creative and successful.