How to make your creativity effective again

When you’re churning out the work and focusing all your energy on getting stuff done, creativity can take a backseat. After a hard day of ticking off the to-do list, the idea of firing up your creativity seems like a far off dream.

What can you do to re-centre? How can you get your artistic mojo back and use your creativity productively? Here’s a few thoughts that can help flip the switch from high performance and intensity, to creativity and fluidity.

Use ‘psychological distance’

This canny tool is a social psychology theory that helps you to think in a more abstract way. In terms of utilizing it to get some creativity back, it simply means stepping away for a bit. You know when you’re in the shower and you suddenly have a complete stroke of brilliance? That’s psychological distance at work. By stepping away from the task at hand or thinking about it in the back of your mind, you won’t feel as pressured to produce instant results.

Take a walk, have a bath, play some music – remove yourself from your current situation and allow thoughts to flow freely.

Implement ‘flow hours’

Are you a night owl or an early bird? Figuring out when you’re at your best in terms of flow, means you can start better scheduling thetypes of tasks you’re undertaking.

This one takes a little bit of practise, but it’s a great tool if you can master it perfectly. Research suggests that most people run in productivity cycles of 90 to 120 minutes, so try and find out when your peak 90 to 120 minutes are and schedule important tasks within that timeframe.

Bio-hack yourself

Biohacking, pioneered by the company Bulletproof, refers to process of ‘upgrading your body, mind and life… becoming superhuman’. Some of the world’s biggest and best entrepreneurs and CEOs are huge fans of biohacking. Evernote’s ex-CEO, Phil Libin is the mother of all advocates.

The basic principles include getting regular blood work and taking the appropriate supplements, practising gratitude, adapting to hormones, interval training, regular sleep and a high fat – low carb diet. Without making huge changes to your lifestyle, start by getting a little more shut-eye and leaving the Krispy Kremes on the staff table.

Get inspired

What gets you feeling inspired? Is it music? Taking a walk? Watching a TEDX talk? Whatever it is, don’t feel guilty about making time for it. If you can get into schedule blocking, why not plug in some time to recharge? A 20-minute dance break isn’t going to ruin your to-do list… in fact, it’ll probably supercharge it.

Switch up your job role

Still feeling totally lacklustre? Creative juices looking like a dried up well? Perhaps you’re just not in the right job. If you’ve honestly tried a bunch of techniques and you’re looking after your health, but still can’t seem to find your flow – maybe you’re missing it all together.

There are tonnes of careers out there that require high levels of creativity – and offer you the space to cultivate it. Maybe you could flex your skills as a web designer? Reckon you’d knock the socks off a digital marketing campaign? Or fancy yourself as a bad-ass project manager?

Don’t get stagnant over a pay check. Spread your wings if that’s what you need to do.