20 Micro-Actions That Can Improve Your Creativity

The trucks were coming up fast in the rearview mirror. There were three ahead of me and four or more in the lanes on the left. I was going 85 miles an hour on my cruiser, and these fat bastards were going just slightly faster, so I ended up riding in tailwind after tailwind. A smaller bike would have buffeted my butt all over the Wyoming desert, but the weight of this behemoth kept me steady.

As steady as possible.

It was exhausting, and when the exit for the little two-lane road appeared ahead, I smiled so hard that my helmet felt tight.

The world is moving fast. Really fast. It seems as though we are producing more, but feeling like we should be producing even more. And more.

It can be taxing on our creativity as well as other parts of our life that shouldn’t be a hassle at all.

Staying creative, doing something with our talent, growing to the next level, and putting food on the table should be the goal of every creative.

But we get sidetracked and forced into a lane that is moving faster than perhaps we want to go, and keeping up is both harrowing and exhausting.

Like the time I ended up in Wyoming, on I-80, on my bike going 85 MPH surrounded by bigass trucks going 88 MPH.

We all need a little two-laner now and then to let us catch our breath.

Here are twenty little ideas that can help.

1. Carry a Notebook Everywhere: Ideas can strike anytime. Jot them down immediately. Option: use the voice recorder on your phone. Did you know you can get wireless mics that clip on your shirt and all you have to do is launch the recorder? I use an iPhone, so I can do it with my voice and, instantly, I’m recording. (Yeay Fieldnotes.)
2. Set Daily Creative Time: Dedicate a specific time each day to engage in a creative activity, no matter how small. Set aside a few minutes in the morning, if possible. For me, it is lunchtime. That seems like a nice break, and I will take an hour to do some composing, sketching, or painting. I’m trying watercolor. Less messy.
3. Change Your Environment: Sometimes, a change of scenery can spark new ideas. Work from a café, park, or different room. I found this to be particularly important while in transition to our new home in the desert. The chaos was not conducive to work, so a little coffee shop a few miles away gave me some quiet space. And caffeine. Lots of caffeine.
4. Practice Mindful Observation: Spend 10 minutes observing your surroundings in detail. Notice colors, textures, and patterns. Try doing this at random times. Observe a sunrise tomorrow, a sunset the day after, or be aware of the changing light on nearby buildings.
5. Play with Constraints: Limit your tools or materials and see what you can create. Restrictions can actually boost creativity. I’m a photographer, so often I will choose only one lens, or shoot film where the limitations are built into the medium.
6. Embrace Boredom: Allow yourself to be bored. It often leads to creative thinking. I find this one hard to do. I am rarely bored, but if being bored means that listless feeling of not being able to choose what to do, yeah… that can be pretty self-awareness-inducing.
7. Engage in a Different Creative Activity: If you’re a photographer, try painting. If you write, try playing an instrument. Cross-training your brain is key. Try playing a video game if you have never done it, or listen to music you don’t usually listen to.
8. Collaborate with Others: Share ideas with friends or colleagues. Collaboration can open up new perspectives. A phone call or text thread can be incredibly powerful for coming up with ideas, or just the simple act of venting with a purpose. The purpose of finding something that works.
9. Take a Walk: Physical movement can help clear your mind and invite new ideas. It doesn’t have to be a long walk. In fact, a short 15-minute walk can be a breath of fresh air for the mind, and for the lungs as well.
10. Create a Mood Board: Collect images, quotes, and items that inspire you. They can be a visual springboard for new ideas. I use Milanote. Pinterest would work too.
11. Read Widely: Expose yourself to different genres and styles. It expands your mental library. Fiction reader? Try a non-fiction bestseller. Only read non-fiction? Grab a novel and read it on your Kindle in those rare moments of downtime.
12. Start with a Random Object: Pick any object and brainstorm all the ways it can be used or interpreted. This is a great way to get into the 10-idea-a-day habit. Look around — what would you do differently if that was your company making that whatever or delivering that service?
13. Practice Improvisation: Engage in activities that require spontaneous thinking. Unscripted activities can challenge that creative muscle and push it into high gear. You can apply it to your own work as well. I like to take an idea and start to design something with it. Small ideas work best.
14. Take Regular Breaks: Overworking stifles creativity. Short breaks can rejuvenate your mind. I stop every hour and move around. I have dealt with the life-threatening issues that can evolve from sitting too much and they ain’t fun, folks. Moving for 5 minutes every hour can literally save your life as well as give you an adrenaline boost.
15. Keep Learning: Take courses, attend workshops, or watch tutorials. Continuous learning keeps your mind active. Learn SEO from Google for free, or take a Photoshop class on YouTube. You don’t have to invest hours at a time, ten minutes or so will keep you motivated and building your knowledge base.
16. Do Freewriting: Write non-stop for a set amount of time without worrying about grammar or coherence. It’s a great way to unleash thoughts. Have a bit of block going on? Blocks are simple resistance, so break resistance by starting. Write about what is around you or pick a title off the internet and start to write. Write about stuff you know, or write about stuff that you have no idea about. Like me writing about nuclear fusion or tax preparation.
17. Sketch or Doodle: It’s not about being a great artist, but about visually expressing ideas. I love to doodle around my work area. In fact, when I doodle my ideas I remember them longer. Just a glance at the doodle refreshes the conversation in my head. Doodles have saved my ass more than a few times.
18. Rearrange Your Workspace: A fresh arrangement can lead to a fresh perspective. Change the photos on the walls, move your office supplies, swap out the blinds for curtains, clean off the desk and only put things back as you need them. So many ways to do this. I change my workspace about once per month.
19. Try the ‘What If?’ Exercise: Ask yourself “What if?” questions to explore different scenarios and outcomes. These open-ended questions keep the brain focused, the creativity muscle strong, and the possibility of finding something new higher. “What if” questions have led to some of our biggest ideas and accomplishments, like space flight, water management, and avocado toast.
20. Celebrate Small Successes: Acknowledging even small achievements can boost your confidence and motivation to create. Do you have a happy dance? “What if” you did? Seriously, don’t let the success moments become blase’ or worse, not enough. Small successes are indeed wins, and winners should be rewarded. Even if it is just a Hostess cupcake and a diet soda. Don’t judge.

I know there are about eleventyhundred additional little things we can do to keep our creativity high. These are a few that require very little additional time or money and can compound quite a bit of growth.

What little things do you do when it all seems to be going a little faster than you want it to go?

It doesn’t take a ton of time or money to create a growth environment