7 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity

Updated on April 27, 2011
Daniel Casciato

By Daniel Casciato

Sometimes I find myself staring at a blank page struggling to find the right words for a tweet or even the introductory paragraph of a blog posting.  On days like this, I just need to find a way to get over this creative burnout and find that spark of creativity when I’m feeling uninspired.

I know I’m not alone, so I recently asked my social media network of friends and colleagues to get their thoughts on this subject and asked them where they find their creativity when they’re feeling uninspired.

Based on their recommendations, here are 7 ways you can jumpstart your creativity:

Walk Away

For William Howard, a marketing/communications manager with over 30 years of experience in B-to-B marketing and communications, creative burnout is not necessarily burn out as much as it is information overload.

“Sometimes we get so involved in a particular project or situation that we become overwhelmed with input,” he says. “At these times it is easy to get brain freeze and not be able to determine what information we should address first. In these situations I always find it helpful to just walk away from the situation and do something else which may be totally unrelated.”

Look to Others for Inspiration

Amateur film blogger, commentator, and critic Donovan Warren looks at other websites of similar content when he’s feeling uninspired.

“I often go to other film-related or media-related blogs to find out about things that I may not know about or things that may remind me of other interesting topics,” he says.

Listen to Music

When Warren is feeling uninspired, he also finds his creativity by putting on some background music. He pops his headphones in, opens up iTunes, double-click on a song he’d like to hear on a loop (he has iTunes set to Controls –> Repeat –> One), and listens as he tries to get the creative juices flowing.

Push Through It

When Tara Alemany feels uninspired, she pushes through it. Sometimes that means she writes a blog entry, or picks up the phone to call a contact.

“Other times, I listen to music, go mow the lawn, spend time with my kids, work on a presentation or read through some inspiring tweets,” says Alemany, owner/CEO of Aleweb Social Marketing. “The main thing is, I give myself the freedom to recognize that I feel uninspired without allowing myself to wallow in it.”

Spend Some Alone Time

Harshil Jhatakia, of Ace Consulting Services in India, finds that being alone helps.

“Loneliness gives me time to motivate myself,” Jhatakia says. “Understanding the situation and finding out a solution out of it inspires me, gets me up on my feet.

Other than this sometimes I listen to rock music and watching inspirational and happy movies helps me come over the mental tiredness.”

Hang out with Others

Melissa Lim’s job often requires her to be creative, so she has learned to get inspiration by hanging out with people who share similar lifestyles, goals, and interests.

“However, I think that it is sometimes good to hang around with people who are completely different from us in terms of culture, education, language and lifestyle,” says Lim, a project manager specializing in Internet Start-Ups in Singapore. “By doing so, we are exposed to their point of view, and this can give us much inspiration.”

Meditate

Michele Price, CIO of Breakthrough Business Strategies first choice is meditation and breathing.

“I find getting still and quiet allows for the mind to be able to engage on levels that you are untappable when you are stimulated by external things,” she says.

How do you find your creativity? We’d love to hear what gets you over that creative hump. Email me at [email protected].

Daniel Casciato is a full-time freelance writer. In addition to writing for the Western PA Hospital News, he’s also a social media coach. For more information, visit www.danielcasciato.com, follow him on Twitter @danielcasciato, or friend him on Facebook (facebook.com/danielcasciato).

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