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You are sitting at your desk. It’s the last place you want to be right now, in the middle of an insanely busy week, with hundreds of unopened emails in your inbox and a nagging headache brewing in your temples. And yet you have a pitch in front of you. To achieve this, you need to put your brain to work and let your creativity flow.
Nowadays it hardly matters which industry you work in. Creativity is required, whether in automobile manufacturing, down comforters, IT or real estate management. Find creative solutions to challenges. Designing creative sales campaigns. Think of a way to showcase and promote your business in a creative way that hasn’t been done a thousand times before. And of course generate creative content. That’s the motto in today’s market in almost every industry, and it’s something I do a lot in my boutique PR firm.
But sometimes I get stuck, uninspired and out of juice. Here’s what I do to boost my creativity engine when it stalls.
Strategy #1: Consume brain food
When your mind isn’t working the way you want it to, it often indicates that your body is low on energy. How can your engine run without gas, right? So fill it up with some fuel. I’m not talking about daily supplements to improve long-term memory and cognitive function; I’m talking about short-term bursts of energy-dense foods and drinks that give you a little jolt to recharge your dead battery.
My favorite is a matcha-infused drink (the more refreshing and tasty, the better), but you can also achieve similar effects with a bowl full of seasonal berries, hard-boiled eggs, a handful of mixed nuts, avocado toast, and a fatty tuna salad sandwich or a nice piece of dark chocolate. It sounds simple (not to mention delicious!) but it works. First things first: feed yourself so you can feed your work afterwards.
Related: 6 Ways to Be Creative in Your Business
Strategy #2: Listen to your favorite playlist
Whether you’re leaving your office to go for a walk outside with headphones on, or you’re simply getting up from your desk to rock out to some of your favorite songs – the ones that always make you dance – I promise you, music hear the ones you love into it Your brain will help you unlock what you want to achieve out of your brain.
Switching senses or brain pathways is a long-accepted approach to getting “out of trouble.” This actually works both ways: some practices focus on getting out of the head and into the body (think aromatherapy or a hot bath), and others aim to release yourself from physical discomfort through moving into your higher self (like meditation, etc.). mindfulness exercises). Either way, shifting your focus from the empty gas tank to a revitalizing activity is an effective way to shift gears and get back on track.
Strategy #3: Scroll, Read, Repeat
Mark Twain (among others) said that there are no new ideas, no new stories – only reworked ones, made up of the same original elements and rearranged in infinitely new combinations. Looking back as far as Shakespeare, this saying seems to hold true: even his timeless and historically acclaimed English Renaissance plays probably drew on and reinterpreted works of the Italian Renaissance.
The point is: painters get inspiration from looking at other paintings. Plans become established among architects when they look at other buildings. Graphic designers browse through publications and design boards to gather ideas for new layouts. That’s why I have no problem admitting that when my supply of creative content runs out, I go online and start reading everything interesting I can find on the topic I want to cover myself. It’s my version of research and development in my field. I am confident that it is applicable to any field and it rarely fails. Find inspiration outside of yourself and then put your own spin on it as you internalize it.
Related: 3 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Spark Your Own Creativity
Strategy #4: Talk to someone you admire
An open dialogue can also serve as a source of inspiration. You don’t necessarily have to “talk out” your dilemma to anyone, you just need to talk to someone you find inspiring. That’s basically admiration, right? You admire someone because they inspire something in you.
So if your creativity sponge feels dry, pick up the phone and reach out to someone who has a proven track record of helping you with problem-solving and decision-making. You’ll probably have ideas that you haven’t thought of before; You will naturally say something in conversation that will light a match in you. I was recently chatting with a friend about a new app she had just downloaded on her phone… and voila! The purpose of the app led me on a thinking trail that unblocked my brain!
Strategy #5: Write freely in a journal
Yes, you can read what others have written to stimulate your creativity, but you can also find your own way to productive paths. If I can’t think of a new idea, I open my online diary and just start typing. Sometimes nonsense comes out. Sometimes it makes sense, but not for the task at hand.
So once you get a few thoughts on the page just to get them out of your head (garbage thoughts like: Why the hell am I not getting anywhere with this project today?), keep typing, keep writing. Work your way up to a little more structure slowly and loosely until something takes shape.
Example: Last month I was trying to come up with a slogan for a brand new advertising campaign for one of my clients. When full statements didn’t work, I simply typed their name at the top of the page and then began listing individual words that came to mind about that client, stream-of-consciousness style. Within 10 minutes, two words jumped out at me that were fresh and to the point. I inserted a noun here and a verb there and before I knew it, I had a slogan good enough to anchor the entire campaign. I drank the last sip of my matcha smoothie through my straw with complete satisfaction!
Related: 5 Creativity Exercises to Keep You Sharp While Working from Home
Given everything we’re all dealing with today – the many hats entrepreneurs wear and the multiple roles we juggle – it’s no wonder our brains often don’t have room for creativity and innovation to thrive need to develop. To give it a boost, try some of these techniques to stimulate your inner engine and stimulate right-brain thinking. Sometimes I feed my soul, sometimes I sing ABBA boogie and sometimes I borrow from others, but as soon as my engine starts again, I can drive off on my own again, in my direction.