Things To Avoid If You Want To Think Creatively

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We’re all busy. Busy is a part of everyone’s over full lives. We have overflowing email in-boxes, cram too many meetings into our day, and spend hours trying to keep up with social media. But being busy simply means we don’t have priorities set up right. And being busy means our creativity suffers.

Our creative powers become stagnant when we are busy. Creativity is what helps us manifest our ideas, use it to solve problems so our projects succeed, or come up with easier ways to do things.

There are things we do, habits we have, that are zapping our creativity. These habits drain us and put our goals out of reach. With a few changes in your behavior, you can begin tapping into your creativity.

Bad Medicine

Look at all the things you put into your body. Those things that help you cope every day. Do they really help? This can be anything you eat that you get some sort of effect from. This can be processed or junk food, sugar or caffeine from coffee to drugs, alcohol, or smoking. When we’re at our peak, our creative selves are more prevalent. Be honest with what goes into your body. Is it helping or hindering?

Social Media

Social media is an important part of how we connect with others and cultivate relationships for our work. It’s also a big attention stealer. Our attention is vital to our lives and for creativity. Limit how much time you spend on social media. Be aware of how it makes you feel and how it affects your creativity.

Email

Email inboxes are inundated with more and more emails every day. Checking our email is one of the biggest killers of energy and momentum in our lives. Set a specific time to read, respond and delete emails to make better use of more time and energy.

Overworking

It’s easy to overdo work and get burnt out. We push ourselves to the limit. Then our energy slags and we lose sleep. Instead, when possible, set limits on how long you work. Learn how to be consistent, outsource, get help, or whatever is necessary to not overwork yourself. “Sprints” are fine but only occasionally, but make sure you don’t let your rest suffer.

Doing the Wrong Work

One thing that destroys your creativity is doing the wrong work. When you spend too much time on things that don’t matter or that don’t come naturally to you, you begin to become stagnant, overworked, and less creative. Instead delegate, outsource or avoid tasks that are part of your weakness. Playing to your strengths allows you to embrace your creativity.

Choosing the First Solution

When you go with the first solution, you are just recalling or settling. This keeps you from being motivated to try alternative ideas. When faced with a problem, take the time to explore different solutions. Is there a better one, more efficient one, or easier one?

Changing your habits that are restricting your creativity can change the way you tap into your creativity. Doing away with these habits frees energy, time, and mental awareness letting you be open to new ideas and thoughts.

about author

Karie Barrett
Karie Barrett

Karie is a results-obsessed marcom, design, and analytics professional with proven success leading corporate marketing, internal communications, and business strategy development for companies across diverse commercial and nonprofit industries.

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