Give your creativity a quick boost. And no, it’s not by going to work covered in face paint, (although as I work from home I might just try that look..). If you are the sort of woman who goes to work covered in face paint you do not need this advice. You are creative enough, trust me.
However, if you are feeling a tad uncreative at the moment this is for you. Have the ideas dried up? Or maybe you have the same problem going around and round in your head and somehow a solution just won’t come? It’s so maddening, isn’t it, especially when you get that sensation of the answer just being out of your eye range and if you could just turn your head quickly enough, you’d catch it. I’m not sure if there is a correlation, but the older I get the more that seems to happen… I put it down to having a very full brain; all my storage is filled up with stuff.
Time to add a gigabyte or two (Yes, I am possibly over-fond of metaphors, sorry.) Fortunately, it’s not technical at all. Quite the reverse. Read on.
RenewYou
I’ve been busy making up packs for my coaching special edition of RenewYou. (If you want to find out more about that check this out.) Included in those packs are a set of coloured crayons, plus a sharpener, because who wants blunt pencils? (I am working hard at resisting a mad metaphor foray here.) When I am actually running the RenewYou days I have to be a bit circumspect as to when I unleash my huge box of crayons and Sharpies on my audience. I don’t want them thinking they’ve signed up for something that resembles an afternoon at playschool, although as it happens, I used to run a playschool and even have a qualification, lapsed. I have no problem accessing my inner child
Do I hear you say get back to the creative bit and stop rambling? Well, here’s the creativity solution coming up right now.
Do This to Boost Your Creativity
Often when we are working, we get a bit stuck in boring old work mode. We write lists, we use black or blue pens. We stare at screens. In short, we do what we usually do at work. (I’m excluding creatives from this list who are well known for doing exactly the opposite of this). And if you always do what you’ve always done you tend to get the same results.
However, if you zizz things up a bit you increase your chances of getting something different, and that something different may be just what you are looking for, even if you don’t quite know it yet.
This is what you do:
1) Go to a stationery shop (I adore stationery shops, don’t you?) and buy a beautiful set of coloured crayons. At least 10 different colours. Get the best that you can afford and choose ones that feel good to hold. Maybe even throw in a few scented ones, or glittery ones, or ones that turn into paint if you dip them into water. Go wild. Grab a sharpener while you’re at. (I am still resisting the blunt pencil metaphors.)
Photo by Ramakant Sharda on Unsplash
2) Next find a mug/jar/vase that you particularly like, or that has special meaning for you, and pour all your gorgeous multi-coloured pencils into it.
3) Place your pencil receptacle in a prominent position in your workspace. You now have a bouquet of colour on your desk.
3) Next time you feel ‘stuck’ stop trying to solve your problem. Have a glass of water, take a coloured pencil or three and simply doodle on a plain sheet of paper. Try and ‘draw’ whatever your dilemma is. Don’t use any words at all, just doodle. It’s only for your eyes so don’t let any old ideas about not being able to draw spoil this. Just doodle away.
4) Now walk away from your desk or table for at least ten minutes and get some fresh air, particularly if your working environment is air conditioned.
5) Return to your issue and try again.
This simple exercise will help you tap into your subconscious by accessing your creative ‘right’ brain. If nothing else, it will brighten up your working space, but it’ll probably do a whole lot more. Try it.
Speak Up
I have a course called Speak Up which I usually deliver in person but have adapted for these strange and uncertain times. You can download it, both audio and some stuff to print/read. It’ll take you about 6 hours in total, I guess, much the same as the day course I run, but you can do it whenever. There are three hours’ worth of audio from me, much like the day course, except you can mute you me whenever you want to. You can hear me talking about it here.
RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!
RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.
Posted on June 24th, 2020 by Jane
