How to Be Creative Even When You Don't Feel like It

As a full-time freelance writer, being creative is what I do. If I'm not creative I don't make money, and if I don't make money, my bills don't get paid. So, if for some reason I find myself unable to come up with creative ideas, it can really mess up my life. So what do you do when you don't feel like being creative, or you just can't be creative?

There are a number of things you can do to help spur your creativity for those times when you are just stuck. Here are some tips for boosting the creative process.

1. Whatever you do that requires creativity, whether it be writing, painting, or coming up with a new service plan for your company, if you find that you just can't come up with new ideas, then walk away. That's right, get up from your work area and walk away. Sitting there staring at the computer screen, the canvas, or the wall isn't going to boost your creativity, you're just going to stay stuck. Walk to Starbucks or some other coffee shop and get your favorite latte, go in the lunchroom and read a magazine for twenty minutes, take your lunch break, whatever, just get away from your work area. Many times just seeing other surroundings will help your mind to come up with ideas.

2. Take a day or two off. If you can afford it, and if you can do it without ticking off everyone at work, take some time off. Generally speaking when you find you cannot be creative it is because you've been staring at the screen, the canvas or your desktop for way too long. Your brain is just tired and it's not going to work any faster or come up with any better ideas if you stay in the same place doing the same thing. You're just going to get even more stuck, and no creativity will ever come from that stuck place. Trust me I know, I learned it the hard way.

3. Rearrange and de-clutter your work area. It's amazing how moving your desk until you have a different view can alter your ability to be creative, but it is one of the many ways you can take a step towards restoring your ability to be creative. Picking up clutter is also a good way to move towards restoring your creativity. The mind doesn't work well in a vacuum, and when there are never any changes to your work area, it is very easy for the mind to get stuck.

4. Look for some inspiration. Surely you know that you are not the only one in your field of expertise whatever that might be, right? Well, one way to boost your creativity is to view what others are doing, and or talk to others who do what you do. So if you are an artist, talk to other artists, or view other artist's work. If you are a human resources manager trying to create a new diversity program for your company, talk to other human resource managers who have already done this and find out what they did. Of course you can also read a book or look up information online if you don't have the time to track someone down and talk to them, the principal remains the same.

These are only a few of the many ways you can jumpstart your creativity when you just don't feel like being creative. They work no matter what you do in life, whether you are a writer like myself, a manager, or the CEO for a large company, it doesn't matter. The thing is creativity is a part of life no matter what we do, and while someone who manages a fast food restaurant might not think of themselves as a creative individual, the fact is they are. Applying even one of these tips will go a long way towards restoring the needed creativity in your life.