7 Ways to Recharge Your Creativity

Have you started a project, but now feel stuck? Try any or all of the following seven steps to help get you back on track.

1. Take a walk. Edward Abbey said, "Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." Every so often, we need to go outside and let our minds wander with the clouds. Breathe in some fresh air. Exercise is a known stimulant to our brains as well as our muscles, and thirty minutes can boost creativity for hours.

2. Take a nap. Sleep deprivation kills creativity. The REM state, or "slow wave sleep," energizes not only your body but your mind, and boosts creativity by as much as 33 percent, according to the Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine.

3. Visualize the result. Sit in a dimly lit space and close your eyes. Visualize in detail the finished product of whatever you want to create, be it writing, sculpture, painting, photography, or whatever. If you're writing, bring the scene to life in your head as if you were watching a movie.

4. Research something. Anything. Choose a topic that has always piqued your interest but you never had time to look into, or even select a topic at random. Then learn as much as you can about it. You'll be surprised at how interesting facts can stimulate your imagination.

5. Relax your focus. By concentrating too sharply on what you want to do, sometimes you will actually make it more difficult to achieve. Take a breather. Shift your thoughts away from what you're doing, and you'll find the more productive thoughts will find their way back to your project.

6. Reorganize your work space. A messy desk or work bench will interrupt the flow of your creativity if you have to stop and search for a specific tool. File away papers in labeled folders, or arrange tools in a logical manner for easy, intuitive retrieval.

7. Lastly, enjoy your project. If you're forcing it along, you probably aren't having much fun with it anymore. Think back to why you started this particular thing, and what gave you your initial inspiration. Refocus on the joy of making something that didn't exist before, and imagine the joy it will bring you when it's finally done.

A common-sense rule is to limit interruptions while you're working too. Turn off those cell phones and let the ideas flow.