Are you feeling sluggish about your latest assignment or stumped for ideas for a creative campaign? Below are 5 unconventional ways to boost creativity and bring the spring back into your step at work.
Attend trivia night
Find a reputable place that hosts weekly trivia contests, and join in on the fun while learning new facts. Couldn’t be bothered to go out? You can even hold one at the comfort of your home! Round up the family or some friends to spend an evening filled with laughter while learning together. Fun, zany, obscure facts are rich fodder for the brain. Every trivia night question is a potential blog post, solution to a proposal, or new business idea.
Pick something you usually wouldn’t
Go ahead and be adventurous… at the bookstore. Adopt Star Trek’s motto and ‘boldly go where you have never gone before.’ Explore the aisles and depths of sections and books you have never set eyes upon and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. Whether you find something new that strikes your fancy or not, it’s bound to expand your horizons and enable those creative juices to flow.
Fix something
Robby Brumberg, writer of ragan.com, suggests fixing something around the house. Embarking upon DIY repairs forces you to use different parts of your brain. Whether it’s replacing a broken faucet, changing a tire, or mending a fence, or doing something satisfying like painting a wall in your room, tinkering and fixing something can enhance creativity. Pick a project, watch a how-to video, and rejuvenate your creativity. Remember to pick simple repairs to start with if you are a beginner in the world of DIY.
Talk to kids
Have a conversation with kids if you want a different perspective of the world. Ask for their opinion about an assignment, or a task you are stuck at. You will be amazed what a six-year-old will come up with as the solution of your woes. At best, you will get fresh ideas that will help springboard a breakthrough. At worst, you will get a few laughs and chuckles. So, it’s a win-win situation for you. It’s true that kids say the darnedest things, but they also have a knack for saying the most honest, compelling, and jarringly insightful things. Brumberg advises not to underestimate the mighty, unrestrained creative power of little ones. Sometimes, it takes the mind of a child to help you break out of a creative slump.
Visit an Art Gallery
Preferably an artist you know nothing about. Walk in and don’t read about the art or the artist in advance and take the art as they are. Creativity needs new ideas and exposure so let your brain soak in the art and enjoy the process. Don’t try to make sense of it or connect the art to your work. Simply enjoy the moment, and when the time is right, your brain will connect the dots.
