7 Simple Ways to Boost Your Creativity

As an entrepreneur and content creator, my creativity is my biggest asset. Every day, I’m writing about 5,000 words and creating several pieces of content for social media channels and my clients.

While a few years ago, I wouldn’t have considered myself a creative person, it’s now one of my biggest strengths and essentially the core of my income.

However, producing exceptional, creative content and generating worthy ideas isn’t always easy. Sometimes, it just sucks. And even as someone who’s into it for several years, I still struggle to generate great ideas from time to time.

On some days, I feel like I could keep working and creating great stuff for hours. On some other days, however, I have a hard time typing 500 words and finishing a blog post. During these days, I remind myself of the following strategies and follow them until I get my creative energy back:

1) Clean up your working area

Easy peasy, yet incredibly effective: Being distracted is one of the most common reasons why we fail to stay creative and productive. That’s why a clean, clear working area can sometimes work wonders.

Once you eliminate physical distraction, having a clear mind, and getting into a creative flow becomes easier. That’s why I start and end every workday by clearing up my workspace. This includes getting rid of used sticky notes, arranging pens, putting cups away, and leaving the place as clean as possible.

My workplace is also my living room, that’s why I usually tidy up the whole room before and after work.

In addition to cleaning up your desk, you can also clean up your digital spaces, such as your desktop. At the end of my workdays, I check my emails and desktop in order to eliminate anything that is not of value and that I won’t need anyway.

Having your space and devices cleaned up and getting rid of physical and digital distractions will allow you to get into a creative flow with more ease and joy.

Too often, we expect creativity to be something exceptional, yet, sometimes, all we need is some space to let our ideas flourish.

2) Spend some time outside

One of the most common mistakes made by creatives is that they force themselves through their work. They have high expectations and want their creative minds to work at any given time.

But here’s the problem: You can’t really enforce creativity.

Even though every creative job requires discipline and a getting-shit-done mentality, creative minds need freedom.

And sometimes, all we need to get back into a creative flow is shutting down the devices and getting outside to get some fresh air and move our bodies.

If you’re working for a corporate, leaving your desk and getting outside might not be as easy as for a solopreneur, yet, you still have different opportunities: You can, for instance, use your lunch break to get some fresh air and move your body, or you can take an extra 15 minutes before work to walk the last mile to your office.

Spending time outside (particularly in nature) can sometimes be the most effective creativity booster.

My boyfriend and I are both working from home, thus we barely move our bodies during a usual workday. Therefore, going for some walks and doing sports is an essential part of our daily routine. We usually go on a 30-minute walk at least once per day, and guess what? These are often the moments we come up with solutions to existing problems or even with new ideas for our business.

Too often, we try to force ourselves and our creative minds through tough tasks even though we don’t feel inspired or energized. Next time you face such moments, remind yourself that your mental and physical wellbeing is more important than anything else, and give yourself some time to breathe in the fresh air and go on a short walk.

3) Turn your favorite music on

I love listening to music and dancing, yet, I never considered including these into my daily life until I first heard about it in a workshop a few months ago. One of the attendees shared how she’d just turn on her favorite music and dance it off whenever she felt stressed, and I immediately knew this could be something I’d enjoy too, so I gave it a try, and it instantly worked.

At home, we usually listen to music during lunch and dinner, but that’s it. On most days, I just didn’t think of turning on some music even though I sincerely enjoy it.

Whenever we struggle to deliver the productive and creative outputs we planned, we quickly start being too hard on ourselves. Yet, too often, these are the moments when we don’t need more discipline but some fun and enlightenment.

Listening to your favorite songs and taking some minutes to unwind might first sound like a time-waster, but if you do it right, it can be a powerful productivity and creativity booster and additionally lead to a smile on your face.

4) Make time for inspiration

I see so many new writers and entrepreneurs who’re desperately trying to come up with creative ideas but end up copying what they’ve already seen. And most of the time, that’s because they constantly consume the same content.

To be creative yourself, you need to make time to consume the inspiring work of others. If you consume what others are consuming, you’ll end up creating what others are creating.

Having your favorite authors, podcasters, and influencers is fine, but make sure to mix up the content you’re learning from regularly. Broaden your horizon, read about unusual topics, watch videos of people whom you don’t know, go to events you’ve never heard of: Make time to soak up information and energy from various disciplines.

As a creative mind, you need to stay inspired yourself. Having a few big idols is fine, but make sure not to end up being a copy of others and instead find your own unique voice and positioning in this noisy world.

5) Find out when you’re most creative

Almost every creative mind I know has a preferred day of the time when they feel most prolific.

Many outrageous authors, for example, share that their favorite time for writing is early in the morning or late at night. Ernest Hemingway, for instance, loved writing in the morning. In an interview, he revealed his routine as the following:

“When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there.”

We all have our peak times throughout the day, and it’s much easier to create your best work during these times instead of forcing yourself through hard work when you don’t feel like it.

Sometimes, getting through hard times and forcing yourself to get the work done is necessary. Yet, whenever possible, stick to a routine that sparks your creativity and hold on to certain times of the day that help you to be most productive.

Being creative doesn’t mean lacking structure. On the contrary: Sometimes, structure and some simple rules can be effective creativity boosters.

6) Remind yourself of why you do it

If all of the points above don’t help, I take some time for self-reflection and ask myself why I’m doing what I’m doing — reminding myself of my why almost always helps me to find inspiration.

One of my biggest aims in life is freedom: The ability to choose when and where I work and particularly what I work on is one of my biggest drivers.

Plus, what also drives me to give my best every day is the huge impact I can have on this planet and the voice I can raise if I keep growing myself and my business.

Grant Cardone once said:

“Your success is your duty.”

And I sincerely believe in the power of that sentence. The more you have, the more you can give back, and the only way to grow your career is by doing the work.

Most of the time, I try to spark my creativity, find inspiration, and motivate myself. Yet, if none of the above work, I remind myself of why I’m doing all of it, put my ass in the chair and do the work.

7) Don’t forget rewarding yourself

Particularly as a creative mind, it’s important to reward yourself for all your accomplishments.

Sometimes, we get so caught up in creating that we forget to appreciate all that we’ve already produced.

For me, regular rewards are an essential part of my work routine: If I give my best to create great work, I also deserve to feel good and do whatever makes my heart dance. This can be a nice dinner, a vacation, a little shopping tour, or whatever else my soul desires.

I genuinely believe that the whole purpose of our lives is being true to ourselves, following good values, and enjoying our time on this planet. And even if you love your job, you might want to take some time off and do other stuff from time to time.

There’s no end to creative work: You can always write one more article, create one more social media posting, start one more project. It’s you who needs to stop in a while and take some time for all the other beauties in life.

And whenever you feel stuck during a creative process, remind yourself of Maya Angelou’s wise words:

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”