I was coaching a woman the other day who told me that when summer comes, she likes to tap into her creative side.
It’s like her creativity hibernates for the winter and finally emerges in the summer. I thought it was funny and decided to follow her in the conversation and it was probably one of the most enlightening coaching sessions I’ve had in a while.
Here are some of the things that emerged from our conversation that might be worth giving a try if you need to level-up your creativity right now.
1. Change your perspective
We’ve all heard the phrase “Think outside the box” and it really is a good thing to do. Try to look at situations from a different point of view and you will likely change your perspective. You may need to partner with someone to do this so they can offer perspectives you never considered. Another thing my client shared is she writes out the steps for something on note cards and then shuffles them around. It helps her see new ways of doing things and sometimes it leads to efficiencies she didn’t see before.
2. Mentally move away from your current location
My client recently healed from a toxic workplace. She told me that in order to survive during that time she often would envision herself in a healthy environment and pictured how she would act during that healthy time. Then, she would apply that healthy behavior to her toxic environment. This helped her show up as her best self even under horrible conditions.
3. Let your imagination run wild
Exercise your imagination. Schedule time to do a brain dump – set a timer and just let the pen flow onto the paper with your ideas. While you brainstorm, there should be no criticisms. Criticism hinders the free flow of ideas. Quantity is preferred over quality in brainstorming. Weird or strange ideas are encouraged. You can also try to exaggerate or think of the extremes, be it magnification or minimization of something. Thinking of the possible differences between two situations could produce ideas. This is the ultimate brain exercise.
4. Your comfort spot
The environment has to be right. You should have somewhere you can focus without being unnecessarily disturbed so you can give a problem your full attention. This extends to the people you are with, too. You tend to do better at something when you are with like-minded people. To put it simply, hang out with creative people to help enhance your creative abilities. Most of the time, people tend to be more creative when they are with people who are doing the same thing.
5. Time, time, time
You can’t rush creativity. Hurrying does not help in the outflow of ideas. Your mind tends to go into a state of slight disarray when you are trying to force things. Studies show that results produced in a rushed state are generally lacking. If you are low on time, then keep a list of activities close to you that help your creativity flow. Go over each of the activities and exercise each one. Give it time.
6. Get help…communicate your ideas to others
A different view of the problem could help. Better yet, many different views! Never be shy to ask. Diversity is very helpful in relation to creativity.
These are just some ideas to get your creative juices going. They can be adapted to suit everyone. How inventive can you be? How open are you? Remove the boundaries from your mind and you will find your creativity will increase.
Work with me
My favorite coaching sessions are ones where women with diverse experiences gather around a table to come up with creative ideas to solve one woman’s challenges. If you’re looking for a group like this, click here to talk with me.