Being creative is about being innovative in a way that is original and effective for generating the result you desire. Most people think of creativity in terms of art, but you can be creative in every part of your life because all it requires is that you work toward solving problems in a unique way.
1. Set Up Your Environment for Creativity – You need to know how you work best but also inform yourself about the science of creativity. Most people can be more creative if they are in a comfortable, safe environment that is void of distractions. Try what works for most people before you try something different.
2. Get Out into Nature and Unplug – If you’re having trouble focusing, take 15 or 20 minutes away from technology and get out into nature. You can walk, or just sit in the park, or gaze at the sky. It’s up to you, but studies prove that humans need more nature in their lives to boost creativity.
3. Get Moving to Create Energy – If your energy levels are down, go for a fast walk or a jog. If you don’t like doing that type of exercise, find something that you do like that’s simple to do on a break so that you can boost your energy and think better.
4. Schedule It to Develop a Habit of Creativity – Believe it or not, you can schedule creativity. Many famous designers, writers, artists, and so forth all claim that they set certain hours and work those hours and no more on their creative part of their job. Therefore, they’re creative on command due to creating a habit of creativity during those times.
5. Challenge Yourself – Sometimes, if you get stuck in a rut and cannot find a way to be more creative, it helps to challenge yourself. You can do that by taking a course, joining a contest, or even by joining a mastermind or hiring a coach with accountability. For example, if you’re a writer, you might try to write an article arguing the opposing point you want to argue to warm up.
6. Collaborate with Others – If you’ve been doing things alone a lot, sometimes bringing on someone to work with can energize your mind enough that it sparks the creativity that you weren’t exhibiting before you started working with the person.
7. Be More Curious – Keep learning, keep exploring, and continue being curious about the world and the things that are important to you about the world. Whatever brings you joy is something that you should be curious about enough to keep learning.
8. Change Your Perspective – When you are used to looking at a situation through your own lens, changing that perspective by looking at the problem from a new angle can unleash your creativity like nothing else.
9. Get Feedback – Asking other people for feedback can also help you notice things that you didn’t realize before. When you do get input, ask people who are also interested in that activity for the feedback so that it’s useful.
Don’t wait for it to manifest on its own. It’s not magic. Everyone has creativity inside them. Training yourself to be more creative in every part of your life is entirely possible. Even if you want to learn to paint amazing realistic paintings, you can learn. It might take you longer than someone else, but eventually, given enough time, you can be amazingly creative in both conforming and nonconforming ways.