6 ways to get creative (when you’re not feeling creative!)
Being creative is an essential part of marketing or any creative role. As mar need to provide new ideas that will spice up content and copy at any given moment. However, we’ve all had those days when the creativity just isn’t flowing. Here’s my advice on what to do when this happens.
It could be a number of things holding your creativity hostage, such as a stressful week or distractions at home.
But, what do you do when you need to get creative, but aren’t there mentally?
Here’s my top tips on how to boost your creativity levels. Whilst this list is in no means exhaustive, I’ve found these lack of creativity antidotes work for me.
Change your scenery
Looking at the same four walls all the time isn’t always the most conducive environment for innovation. Get out of your usual working space, try somewhere new like a cafe, a co-working space, or if you’re lucky enough to do so, book yourself a flight, take your laptop and work in a completely new location. This will help to refresh your perspective and get you back into that concentration flow.
2. Prioritise
You may have a million things on, but can you focus on what is the most essential thing right now? Select the essential tasks and then park the rest. The Eisenhower Matrix is a great tool to prioritise. Utilise your creativity and hone in on that one thing so you’re not spreading yourself too thin and avoiding wasting precious mental energy.
3. Look for external insights
There are so many free tools we can look at to gain new insights. Schedule a couple of hours at a time of day you feel most productive and complete an environmental scan. Dive into researching on social media, read magazines, look on social network forums like Reddit and Facebook to see what your target audience are talking about and search hashtags on Twitter to find out what’s trending right now. Get 👏🏼 those 👏🏼 insights! 👏🏼
4. Go hands free
I can not tell you how many times good ideas have come to me when I’ve been forced to put my phone down and focus on something else. The task needs minimal concentration so it could be going for a run or even taking a shower. It could also be going for a drive however, this requires more concentration so might not allow your brain to get in a relaxed state. Basically, anything you can do to get in the zone and offline, is a wonderful thing for your creativity so embrace those moments of peace and headspace.
5. Get a good nights sleep
Do you know why most people feel crappy and uninspired? Because they’re probably not getting enough sleep. Ok there’s probably lots of other things going on but getting enough sleep is fundamentally one of the best things we can do for our physical and mental health. In fact, there are literally studies that show sleep deprivation leads to reduced creativity. So, work on building a healthy sleep routine and start looking at sleep as an essential tool to unleash your creativity.
6. Take a break
Lastly, if your creativity is waning, you may be feeling burnt out. In the fast paced world we live in today, it’s so easy to relentlessly keep pushing yourself without realising how unsustainable this is. Give yourself permission to take a break so you can completely switch off. It’s so key to rest and recuperate, regather your thoughts and come back with your creativity cup topped up!