12 Simple Ways to Up Your Creativity

What have you done recently that was creative? Plan a party, give a unique gift, write some poetry, or draw? Having creativity lets us do so much, and live outside the box for a while. Here are some ways to get those creative juices flowing.

• Focus on working for yourself and yourself only. If you keep stopping yourself mid-thought and waste time contemplating what so-and-so will think, you won't get anywhere.
  
  

• Ideas come from the most random places, and most usually when you're not looking for them. Go out and about, keeping an open mind, and something will surely come to you.
  
  

• If you're sitting there, struggling fruitlessly to make something creative appear, stop for a minute. Go take a walk, nap, watch TV - take a break. Just make sure you don't procrastinate - get back to it later.
  
  

• Go outside your comfort zone. The bigger the step, the more perspective you'll gain.
  
  

• Keep yourself engaged by doing new things that aren't too familiar to you. Eat at a new restaurant, try a new sport, experiment with art.
  
  

• Always ask yourself questions. The whys, hows, and why nots open up a broad new world.
  
  

• Build a fear muscle. The next time you'd like to try something but are afraid to do it because of some reason (non-medical/safety related, of course), go ahead and do it. The more you do this, the easier it becomes, as your fear muscle gets stronger.
  
  

• Make lists. Make them on anything and everything. For example, shopping lists, to-do lists, and then idea lists. They help open you up and invite more thoughts.
  
  

• If you're feeling stressed, then go destress. Take some time out and indulge in whatever relaxes you. It's not easy to be creative when a thousand mundane little things are running through your head and worrying you.
  
  

• Welcome all ideas. Yes, even the ones you believe are bad. Expanding on these can lead to great ideas.
  
  

• Look to others for inspiration, as long as you don't copy them. Imitation is suicide, but as long as you end up with something uniquely yours, you're doing great.
  
  

• Think outside the box. Too often in life, we are faced with problems that seemingly only have one obvious solution. For example, the dishes aren't done, you have guests coming over, and the dishwasher decided to break down. What do you do? Wash the dishes by hand, of course. But with these problems, we learn to think too straight forwardly, when what we need is to be creative, and think outside the box. Try challenging yourself with word problems and riddles on a regular basis.