Boost Creativity With These 10 Idea Sparking Tips

When you flex your creative muscles and allow it to become a habit, it gets easier over time. The best way to stay creative is to get creative. It may not always be gold, but you can hopefully find a few good nuggets in there if creativity is a regular part of your world.      

Exercise is good for more than just sweat. It's been shown to stimulate something called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, which gets the hippocampus going and in turn, creative thoughts. The more intensely you exercise, the more intense the process is. Doing a cardiovascular workout first thing in the morning can set you up for creative success for the next few hours at work. For a little boost, a quick walk around the block will do it too.

Some prefer to brainstorm with words while others gravitate to a more visual format. With art journaling, you start with a blank page and draw, paint or write whatever comes into your head. It’s like doodling, but goes beyond. You can paste photos or snippets of text from other sources, use stickers or any other found objects. Journaling can be in a book, on a stack of paper or on a collection of napkins. There’s no rules as long as it gets the creative juices flowing      

Sometimes, for a little motivation, a motivational speaker can help. Listening to a creative person talk about their process might inspire your own. Ted Talks are a goldmines of ideas and these six are a great starting point for tackling the dreaded blank page.      

Just as an active body can help clear the mind and make room for free thoughts, stillness and mindfulness can open your brain too. Researchers looked at two types of meditation: open monitoring, which is about observing the moment with flexible attention, and focused attention, which keeps concentration on breathing. Out of those two practices, open-monitoring had the best success with encouraging creativity. It decreased cognitive rigidity, increased cognitive flexibility and improved working memory – all great stimulators of the creative process.      

A study tested brainstorming with water and regular black tea and discovered those that had a cup of tea had way more innovative ideas than the water drinkers. If it’s the caffeine or the confidence boost people get from drinking an “elegant” drink is unknown but it helps unlock something in the brain, so pinkies up!

Do crystals help with creativity? Maybe. Several different crystals including citrine, carnelian, garnet and tiger’s eye are known for creativity-sparking effects like promoting inner calm, bringing good fortune, and aiding rejuvenation. If that’s not your thing, at least they’re pretty rocks to look at while you’re thinking.      

Sometimes your surroundings can affect your creativity levels. A stale environment can limit you while a change of scenery can be stimulating. Different stimuli can work for different people. For some, a stark atmosphere with an uncluttered desk and dim lighting helps reduce distractions and can open the mind. For others, fresh air and sunshine can make you feel renewed.  The key is figuring out where you work best. If you’re feeling blocked, try switching things up and seeing how it goes.   

Some people work well alone while others need a sounding board to bounce ideas off of, in the form of other people. When people come together with different viewpoints, new ideas can grow. Of course, the best scenarios involve clear objectives and boundaries, but magic can happen within those guidelines.      

Sometimes taking a break to appreciate the works of others can inspire your own. Even if there’s only a seed in the art, it can still grow into an entirely new idea for you. From visual arts to music or writing, art opens up your brain and shows you new things. Next time you’re in a rut, walk around a museum, stream some music or kick back with a good book and ideas just may come.