How to Drag Creativity From Its Hiding Place

As a creative person, that's often the question we ask ourselves. What seems like an awesome idea one day, seems like a waste of time the next. The truth is that most ideas are good - and then there are ideas that are really great. The type that you know you need to write down on the nearest napkin, cigarette packet or bathroom wall.

A whole series of productivity apps have surfaced thanks to the recognition of this pattern: Evernote, Notes, Wunderlist, and more - all evolving to cater to the growing number of entrepreneurial and creative people who at the least make note of their ideas. Even if they do nothing with those ideas ever again.

So, what happens when you find yourself in a slump? Your business or personal enjoyment may to some extent rely on you being an ideas person.

Here are three ideas that will help you drag creativity from its hiding place in your soul out into the great wide open.

Spend Time Around Different People

The general population is made up of all sorts of people - and while most of us are fairly "average" in our day-to-day processes, there are always outliers. Those bizarre people who rollerblade through traffic, dressed in a 3 piece suit with their dog running alongside.

People who behave in ways outside what we deem as normal will often give us food for thought. That is why movies and TV series are so popular. We live vicariously through them - imagining ourselves in a different life where the rules are almost the same as here in reality, but skewed towards unusual events happening at least every 40 minutes.

“We are the result of the top 5 people we spend time with”, said Zig Ziglar. So the more diverse company you keep - the more open your mind will be to different ideas.

Read More

Travel broadens the mind - but if you can't afford to travel or just don’t have the time for it, a book is just as good. It's been shown time and time again that our brains can't differentiate between what we read (see) and imagine - and what's real. That's why exciting books make us hold our breath in anticipation.

Write More

Stephen King said that all great writers are readers. Just writing down your ideas gets them out of your head and into a "brain dump" freeing you up to have more ideas. When they run freely, it's just a matter of sorting the great from the good - like panning for gold.

So, what’s YOUR favorite way to drag creativity from its hiding place?
Please share with us in the comments box below the post (if you’re reading it from your email, clicking on the title will bring you back to the original post).