Make Creativity a Daily Choice

By Sharon Lee 

I don’t know about you, but I find that staying creative is one of the hardest things to do.  

Life has a predictable cycle of routines, responsibilities, meetings, deadlines, and obligations.  

And, frankly, I love much of it. There is something satisfying about having structure and knowing what needs to get done.  

But there’s a downside.  

When I go too long without being creative, I feel like a lesser version of myself. I’m still productive. I’m still accomplishing things. But something is missing. 

That’s because creativity isn’t something we can simply turn on when we need it. It’s a muscle. And like any muscle, it needs to be exercised.  

Creativity requires intention.  

It requires creating space to think differently, explore new ideas, and make unexpected connections, even when everything around us pushes us toward repetition.  

So, in this blog post I explain why I’m recommitting to staying creative, no matter what life puts in my path. And how you can too.

1. Stay curious

Read about topics outside your expertise.  

Talk to people who have different experiences and perspectives. Follow your curiosity even when there is no obvious connection to your work.  

The more diverse the inputs, the more interesting the ideas you can generate.

2. Protect time to think

Creativity needs space.  

Go for a long walk in the forest. Take a bike ride through the park. Sit somewhere without your phone and simply let your mind wander.  

Some of our best ideas emerge when we stop trying so hard to have them.

3. Embrace constraints

We often think creativity requires unlimited freedom.  

The opposite can be true.  

Constraints force us to find new approaches. Limited time, resources, or information can push us beyond the obvious solution and toward something more inventive.

4. Discuss your ideas

Don’t keep every idea in your head.  

Share your thinking with friends, colleagues, or people you trust. Someone else’s question or perspective can take an unfinished idea somewhere you never expected.  

Creativity is often collaborative.

5. Capture ideas wherever they happen

Great ideas rarely arrive when it’s convenient.  

Keep a place to capture thoughts, observations, questions, and interesting connections before they disappear. A notebook, notes app, or voice memo can become a surprisingly powerful creative tool.

6. Create before you consume

Before opening email, scrolling through social media, or consuming everyone else’s ideas, create something of your own.  

Write. Sketch. Think.  

Even 15 minutes can make a difference. Start the day by contributing something to the world rather than simply consuming what others have created.

7. Break your routine

Take a different route. Work from somewhere new. Try something you’ve never done before.  

Routine makes life easier, but breaking routine gives your brain new inputs, and new inputs create new possibilities. 

Final Thoughts

The goal isn’t to become more creative overnight. It’s to create the conditions where creativity can happen consistently.  

Because in a world designed to keep us busy, distracted, and consuming, staying creative is a choice.  

And I’m choosing creativity.  

Thanks for reading my blog post.  

Are you interested in becoming more creative? If so, feel free to get in touch. My email address is shamikodesign@gmail.com – I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

3 Ways for a Small Business to Become More Creative

 By Sharon Lee

Have you ever wished you could be more creative?

Modern culture often labels creativity as a gift, something we are born with. Yes, there’s some truth in that. In my opinion, though, every single one of us can become more creative. You simply require the right stimuli, tools and environment. Creativity is a skill to be learned, practiced, and developed, just like any other. Juggling takes practice, as does surfing, coding, and driving a car. Creativity is no different. The more you make creativity part of your daily life, the more it will grow.

So, how can we be more creative? Here are three suggestions:

1. Stretching the Vision

Letting your mind wander outside the box, can help fuel your creativity, especially when you’ve already invested a lot of time and energy on a project—daydreaming for as little as 12 minutes was shown to improve creative thinking in a study published in the Journal of Psychological Science.

Alternatively, if you feel too busy to daydream, consider interspersing tasks that demand more creativity with less mentally-intensive ones, as this has been shown to be beneficial too.

And, if you still feel guilty about visualizing during the work day, consider that studies have shown that visualizing so improves working memory (the kind of memory that enables us to think about multiple things at once) so you will be more proficient at multi-tasking.

2. Test Yourself

Many of us take the path of “least mental resistance” when forced to solve a problem, according to research by the Institute of Education Sciences. In other words, we resort to solutions that have worked in the past.

In contrast, we are often at our most creative when facing limitations—one of the most famous examples of this was Dr. Seuss producing Green Eggs & Ham after being challenged by his editor to produce an entire book in fewer than 50 different words.

Try restricting your work in some way and you may see the benefits of your brain coming up with creative solutions to finish a project around the parameters you’ve set.

3. Build a Playful Environment

Consider keeping toys such as Play-Doh, Lego and origami paper at your desk—building something physically with your hands, as opposed to typing on a keyboard, can give you just the creative jolt you need.

Be open to reading books, viewing artworks and watching movies that are surreal, even absurd, as these can help boost pattern recognition and problem solving. A study at the University of Southern California, Santa Barbara showed that participants were more creative after reading Franz Kafka and Lewis Carroll because surreal/absurd art puts the mind in “overdrive” for a short period while it tries to understand what is seeing.

Lastly, don’t overlook the relationship between your creativity and your emotions. I know that I’m the most innovative after a rest. An open and positive mood are the best place for me to be creative in  and more importantly, being influenced by other designs and looking at what other people are doing makes me want to create something more original. Reflect on what type of moods works for you and, when you find yourself feeling that way, focus that energy on creating something extraordinary. 

Thanks for reading. 

I'd love to know what you think of this article - please email me at shamikodesign@gmail.com if you'd like your business to be more creative.