CREATIVITY TIP SHEET
Designed for those moments when you feel hindered and stymied
BEGIN
By doing something else. Take a technique that is unfamiliar or out of your routine—post-its, Haiku, papier mache, watercolor crayons, India Ink—and create something entirely unrelated to your primary project/goal. Your mind will start clicking into a creative space. Creativity embodies problem solving and finding connections that do not yet exist. Remember, you will work through this challenge.
FINDING INSPIRATION
Seek out inspiration in new, nonobvious places;
Walking the neighborhood or a park
Reading children’s books
An atlas or travel guide
The cereal aisle
Flea market/antique store
Bicycle riding
Talking to Mom or Dad
Hardware store
Zoo
Poetry
Library
Wallpaper or paint color samples
Shake up your routine and get out of a rut. Be open minded—do not play the expert and learn something totally new. Listen more than you speak to gain new perspectives. Ask yourself over and over, “What if…….?” Inspiration appears when we consider that what we believe may not be true or singular.
PUSH THAT STATUS QUO
What looks like creative, spectacular brilliance comes from a steady, ongoing, regular practice of seeing, thinking, and working creatively. Also, if you want to be innovative you have to challenge the way things are and change them.
Search for and collect artifacts that relate to your purpose/mission. Artifacts can be photos, quotes, interviews, physical items, websites, and artists, whatever gets your juices going. Study and contemplate your collection to discover the golden nugget or gem that you need right now!
BREAKING THROUGH A BLOCK
A creative block simply shows that it is time to use a different approach/mindset. It is okay and expected to try about ten different things before arriving at success.
Arrggghhh—I’m stuck!
Do something physical that requires little thinking/preplanning.
Help someone else accomplish their task/project.
Talk to friends who are also creative folks.
Set up a limit for yourself and dive into a project—limit the time, color selection, process, size, materials, etc.
Look for something else to solve.
Meditate, have a cup of tea, do yoga, or listen to music for a while.
SOURCE: http://www.unstuck.com
