If you’re an aspiring artist, you’re probably always looking for ways to boost your creativity, but you don’t have to be an artist to benefit from such a boost. When you’re more creative, you can problem solve better. You may come up with more innovative solutions at work, and you may find that you can express yourself more freely. In addition, keep in mind that you don’t have to aspire to be an artist to enjoy things like painting or writing for your own purposes. The tips below can help you bring more inspiration into your everyday life.

Make Room

How do you find your creative spark in a world where you feel as though you are always trying to juggle too many practical things at once, like work, family and other responsibilities? The key is to set aside some time that is just for you. Getting away from screens for even a short time can be a big benefit as well. Just allowing yourself time for your mind to wander can prime your mind to be open to inspiration.

Filling the Well

Read books, watch movies, look at photographs or paintings, and listen to music. By surrounding yourself with art, you’ll find yourself naturally becoming more creative. Adding spontaneity and surprises to your life and trying new things can have a similar effect. For example, you could try signing up for different classes at a local gym or community college. You could sign up for a monthly snack subscription box that will ship immediately and bring you food from all over the world. You may discover flavors and textures that you have never experienced before. An openness to the unexpected can lead to creative breakthroughs.


Do Something Boring

This may seem in direct contrast to the advice in the previous item, but cultivating creativity means allowing down time alongside stimulation. You probably have had the experience before of getting a great idea while you were doing something monotonous, like driving or taking a shower. Washing dishes can be great for this as well. If you normally listen to podcasts or talk on the phone to someone while you’re doing these kinds of boring, routine tasks, try doing them a few times without any stimulation. You might be surprised at what your brain comes up with when it doesn’t have anything else to do.

Set Aside Judgment

One of the biggest impediments to creativity is that part of your mind that is constantly explaining to you why the various ideas you are coming up with won’t work. That part of your mind can be helpful in some situations and at certain stages in creating art, but you don’t need it 24/7 and you definitely don’t need it when you are in the cultivating ideas stage. Practice telling yourself that you’re going to let yourself brainstorm for ten minutes. Every time that voice pipes up to tell you why the idea you just wrote down is a bad one, do some visualization to imagine quieting it. Shut a door in its face or turn down its volume. Soon, you’ll be able to generate ideas more easily without having to hear from that negative voice.

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