Maybe you weren’t the creative kid in school, better at math than drawing, so you spent your whole life believing creativity wasn’t for you. Now is your time to discover your laden talent for creative thinking. Do creative people really have some super human ability, or are they actually just as unsure about their decisions as the rest of us? Well I’m here to tell you it’s the latter. Creativity is a skill that can be developed over time. It takes time and effort to become a good creative thinker, and people who have honed this valuable skill keep their secrets close to their chest. But I’m here to share some tools creative people use all the time, that they don’t want you to know!
Do Boring Things
Be boring, do boring things, stop thinking about everything and just be bored. This means no work, no screens, no distractions. Take yourself for a walk and give yourself time for your mind to wander. Once you give yourself room to have creative ideas, you will notice them popping up more and more. Bring a pen and notebook on these walks and jot down any strange, whimsical idea that comes to mind. You will train your brain to relax during these walks and offer some creativity.
Make Room for Conversations with Interesting People
If you find yourself in a creative rut, it may be because you’re not surrounded by inspiring people. Not that the people around you aren’t great, but talking to new people can spark ideas and invoke creativity you didn’t know you had. Pick up the phone and call an old friend, or even chat with the teller at your local grocery store. However you go about doing it, open yourself up to different people and let them tell you their stories.
Find Inspiration Everywhere
Discover the world of observation. When you take time to enjoy elements of life that you previously ignored you are setting yourself up to find inspiration. You can find that inspiration in new conversations with strangers, or by yourself in a walk in the park. Don’t be afraid to take these snippets of inspiration and investigate their implications fully. Even if your original idea never turns into anything, the exercise of working it through to the end will help you develop future creative ideas. 90% of what creative people come up with never turns into anything, so you need to keep working for that 10% that’s a valuable idea.
Darian Kovacs is the founder of Vancouver based SEO company Jelly Digital Marketing & PR. He brings 15 years of marketing experience and a passion for education, and creativity. He is the host of the TV show www.marketingjam.ca found on Amazon Prime US & UK, and all podcast channels. Darian’s agency specializes in PR, digital marketing, and SEO. He’s worked with numerous internationally renowned brands on developing and executing their digital marketing strategies. Darian lives in Fort Langley, BC with his wife and four children and likes to mountain bike, watercolour, and read in his free time.