Do you believe that creativity is something you’re either gifted with (or not) at birth? Do you assume that creativity is baked into your genetic code? If you’re one of the chosen ones, you’re blessed with a magical creative touch to inspire and move the world with your talents.
Thankfully this is false. While creativity might come more naturally to some than others, it’s a skill anyone can nurture and grow. Regardless of whatever creative skill you wish to become more proficient in, it’s possible.
Today we’ll go over some ways for you to boost your creativity levels so that you can partake in the creations of this world. Whether it’s to show off to the world, to show off to yourself, or if you’re looking for a better way to spend your free time than scrolling TikTok. Keep reading to learn how to improve your levels of creativity.
Creative Time-
People tend to assume that all the great creative geniuses were struck with a stroke of genius before they crafted their finest and most famous works. While they might’ve been hit with a little stroke of genius, it didn’t happen completely out of the blue. It was the result of continuous-time and efforts on their part. How many songs were recorded for every successful album out there that didn’t make the final cut?
Creative genius doesn’t just appear. Whatever creative skill someone tries to perfect is worked on for countless hours, and edited repeatedly. When it’s released into the world it’s so good that people assume it must’ve been conceptualized through magic.
You can work on honing your craft by blocking out creative time for yourself. Maybe it’s one hour a day or if you’re more pressed for time one hour a week. Whatever amount of time you can allocate is great but don’t expect to make any improvements if you never spend time on your creativity.
Productivity Window-
In one of our recent posts, we reviewed sleep chronotypes and how they can affect your day. When you’re aware of when you typically have more energy, it’s better to schedule creative time during your energized windows.
If you’re a morning person, it’s better to spend your creativity block during the morning. If you’re a night owl, scheduling your block of creative time at night would be more productive. You probably won’t feel very creative when you’re tired. By learning your body and your sleep chronotype you can better schedule your creativity windows.
Give Yourself A Creative Outline-
You know how when you have too many options, you can become overwhelmed with choices? The same goes for creativity. If you give yourself a completely blank canvas to work with, you might be staring at it for longer than you’d care to admit.
By giving yourself an outline to work with, you’ll have a much easier time starting whatever your creative project is. Start with a mini brainstorming session to decide which ideas are most exciting to you and narrow it down to one or two to provide yourself with an outline.
Tidy Up-
Everyone’s creative brain works in slightly different ways but for the most part, most brains can focus better when in a tidy and clean environment. This might not be true for every single person but typically when you’re in a cluttered and dirty space your mind will subconsciously or consciously be focused on that and have trouble putting the attention on whatever project you’re working on.
By keeping your environment clean and decluttered you give your mind space to focus solely on the creative project at hand. Before diving into your creative time, spend a few minutes cleaning up your space.
Change your Environment-
Sometimes staring at the same four walls warrants zero inspiration. If you’re in a creative rut then placing yourself in a new environment can give you a fresh headspace. Try heading to a coffee shop or a park to switch things up. Sometimes a change in environment can be all you need to get those stagnant creative juices flowing.
Try New Things-
If you don’t already, expand your horizons. Try a cuisine you haven’t before, experience a different culture, listen to a genre of music you don’t normally. It’s good to get out of your little bubble from time to time and see what else is out there. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t but at least you know more about it. Be open to trying new things and often as a way to spike your creativity.
Screen Time-
Too much screen time can zap you of your creativity. Social media provides a ton of cool content that others have created. To cultivate your sense of creativity, step away from screens so that you can hear your own voice calling out to you instead of others.
So many creators online create something only to have it copied a million times over. Of course, this happens but to ensure that your creativity is your own and comes from you, it’s wise to take breaks from social media sometimes to harness your creativity.
Morning Pages-
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity, is the best-selling novel by author Julia Cameron who introduced “morning pages” to the masses. Morning Pages is where you start your day with 3 full pages of handwritten brain dumping. Writing whatever comes to mind frees up your mental space to create more freely during the day.
By writing whatever comes up without judgment, you’ll allow your mind to wander and flow without restrictions. If you wish to level up your creativity, start the practice of morning pages for a few weeks. See what you notice and if your creativity flows to you more effortlessly after consistent practice.
Exercise-
If you find yourself in a creative rut one of the best things you can do is exercise. Get blood flowing to your brain and body while you get an endorphin boost.
You know that feeling you get when you finish a workout and have a clearer head, an elevated mood, and feel like you can accomplish anything? When you hit a creative roadblock, do some vigorous exercise for at least 30 minutes to reframe and reenergize your mindset.
Flow-
Even if you have end goals for your creativity it’s important to also let things flow. Don’t solely create for the sake of pushing out content, artwork, or music but to enjoy it. When you begin to monetize your creativity, eventually you can burn out or lose your passion when you’re simply doing it for a cheque.
Try to create for the pure enjoyment of it as well whenever you can find the time. You might find that your creativity runs more rampant when there is no end goal in sight.
Let Yourself Be Bored-
Another one of our recent posts covered the topic of boredom and its benefits. In today’s world, we can become so overstimulated that it can be hard to come up with any original thoughts or ideas. We can begin to suffer an almost mental paralysis when trying to originate new ideas.
By allowing yourself to be bored you can spur new thoughts and creative ideas. Several studies have even found that participants who complete a boring activity over a stimulating one, have higher levels of creativity than the other groups participants. When you’re having trouble finding your creative flow allow yourself to sit in boredom before you begin a creative task.
Conclusion-
In the past, you might’ve been led to believe that you were either a creative person or not. You were either born with inherent gifts or not and there wasn’t much you could do to change that. However, that’s simply untrue.
Creativity might come more naturally to some than others but it’s a skill that anyone can nurture to become more prominent. It doesn’t come out of the blue or overnight and takes consistent time and effort.
By carving out time for creative skills each week you’re bound to eventually see improvements. Schedule your creative time according to your sleep chronotype so that you have enough energy and vibrancy to create the way you want to. Make sure to tidy up your space beforehand so that you can give your creative projects your full attention.
Give yourself an outline so that you’ll have a starting point when working on your creativity. Test out morning pages, work on reducing your screen time, and try new and different things as much as possible.
Change up your environment or exercise when you begin to feel stuck. Let yourself feel bored for a creative boost and don’t forget to create for the enjoyment of it! By using these 11 tips, hopefully, you’ll be on your way to higher levels of creativity than you ever thought possible.
