How to Enhance Your Creativity: 3 Proven Strategies
This is a guest post from Lorene Troyer that I know you will enjoy and benefit from in untold ways.
I think we can all agree that being creative is a good thing, especially as an online entrepreneur. It can help us come up with a catchy title for our blog post, or an idea for a new product or a unique way to market our business. Here are my thoughts on how to enhance your creativity…
So, what happens when it goes missing? For example, you may wake up one morning and it seems like all your creativity must have leaked out during the night. You feel uninspired and can’t think of one intelligent thing to write. Well don’t worry, it happens to all of us. So even though you may not always be as creative as you’d like, there are many things you can do to enhance your creativity. Here are 3 ideas:
- Keep up your energy levels. Fatigue and low energy levels are not compatible with creativity.
Stay away from processed foods that can zap your energy levels, for example, foods made from white flour or foods that have added sugar.
Remain hydrated. One reason that fatigue can set in is because of toxic build-up in your body due to normal metabolic processes. Drinking water can help detox your system and increase energy levels. Another benefit is that the brain functions better when it’s fully hydrated. You’ll be able to think faster, be more focused, and experience greater clarity and creativity.
- Limit your options.
In his book, Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon states, “Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities. The idea that you can do anything is absolutely terrifying. The way to get over creative block is to simply put some constraints on yourself.” He goes on to give an example of how Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a book using fewer words. What happened? A bestselling children’s book, “Green Eggs and Ham” only uses 50 different words. (Kleon, 2012, p. 137-138)
- Make the most of your peak time, that time of day when you feel the most energetic and creative.
Whether you’re a “morning” person or a “night owl,” take advantage of this time by working on items that require the most focus, energy, and creativity. Things such as making important decisions or solving problems. It’s also a good time to study or work on creating products or writing projects that are related to your career or business.
You can do this is by creating a schedule ahead of time. For example, I keep a sheet of paper by my computer. It has two sets of activities- one that requires “brain power” I.e. creativity. This might include activities such as coming up with ideas for a new product or finishing up a difficult article and the other list is for activities that I need to do on the computer but they don’t require so much creativity. For example, posting to social media or finding keywords for a product I’m working on.
- Always be ready to capture your ideas.
As you’re going about your day, pay attention to any ideas that flit across your mind. Maybe as you’re watching the neighbor’s children play in the yard you get an idea for a planner that could help moms be more organized. As you’re driving down the highway, you catch a glimpse of some of the words on a billboard and it sparks an idea for a name of the product you’re working on.
Or maybe as you’re walking through the mall, someone hands you a flyer promoting a free course hosted by a local business. A light bulb goes off and you think, “Hey, I could do something like that for my business.”
This kind of thing often happens to me as I’m sitting in a church service or attending a meeting. I’ll get ideas for quotes or even blog posts I want to write based on what the speaker is saying.
But in discussing how to enhance your creativity, remember that it’s not enough just to acknowledge these ideas. You need to record them as well. This can be done with your phone or by keeping a pen and small notebook with you at all times. Later on, you can go through your ideas and decide whether to develop them further or file them for a future project, or discard them.
How will you use these proven strategies to enhance your creativity? Let me know by leaving a comment on this post.
I’m Lorene Troyer. I enjoy helping businesses and organizations with content creation to increase their visibility, boost engagement, and build trust with their audience. You can find my blog at https://www.LoreneTroyer.com/ or connect with me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LoreneTroyer1
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