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Doing things the same way each and every day can be monotonous, tedious and can definitely limit creativity. I drive to work each and every day, taking the same route. There have been moments during my drive that I realized that I had no idea where I was, when my mind was on other things and my driving became automatic. Our minds can often act in this automatic way at anytime, mostly when we perform tasks the same way...similar to the way our muscles master the art of rhythmic contractions to perform all tasks (known as muscle memory), our brains function is a similar way. To avoid this "automaticity of events", change things up. Take the scenic route to work, change the way you do your "routine" morning tasks such as reading the paper, checking e-mail, blogging, etc. By changing things up, you will find that your brain will think of things that it had not thought of before, allowing for your creative juices to flow.
4. Try something that you have never done before.
I am the worst at trying something new. In my younger days, I could easily be coerced or manipulated by my peers to try new things. I think I did it just so I could fit in. However, in my adult life, I try to be safe and stick to what I know. In order for me to try new things, I need to come out of my comfort zone and really push myself to change. Don't get me wrong, I do try new things, but it certainly doesn't come naturally and I have to remind myself each day to try something new. What will I try to do today?
3. When you have an idea, make a note of it, and later check to see if it happened.
I use various tech tools in my office and on my smartphone to keep track of my ideas. I use google, twitter, blogger and Evernote for almost everything I can think of. Thoughts come at all times...on my drive to and from work, I may use a voice recorder to record a thought or idea. In my office, I have post its all over the place, a whiteboard with notes and I am never too far away from my droid, iPad or chromebook. Since I use google drive to store everything, I have folders dedicated to ideas. I have ideas for iPads, google innovation, BYOD, and many others. While I keep my ideas and thoughts somewhat private, I do share them to my PLN through Twitter and my blogging. It is a great way to put them out there for feedback and support. It also pushes me to keep moving forward and continue to work towards my goals.
2. Go for a walk.
I should walk more. What I notice is that when I go for walks, I always am able to clear my mind. There was a movie, not a very good one (historically), but it was about the Samurai and an American civil war veteran living among them to learn their ways in the late 1800's. There is a line in the movie that I think of often. It happened when the American was training with the Samurai and it was an utter failure. One of the younger Samurai said to him, "mind the sword, mind the people watch, mind enemy - -too many mind. No mind." Some have translated some of the Zen teachings as "mind like water" or "empty mind" where the mind is not preoccupied by any thought or emotion. It is empty in the sense that it is unbiased, free and adaptable. This is when you can be most creative.
1. Play.
I have 4 children, 3 of which are young enough to still play. I watch them play all the time. Occasionally, they will ask me to play along. I have a difficult time, while they ease right into creative play. They can be silly, laughing and giggling while they pretend they are monsters, or anything else they can think of. My 3 year old can do a great imitation of me. She would sit on the couch and in a really low voice, say, "Stop making all that noise!" The girls all laugh at that. They dance and sing all the time. They can sit around all day and play with their lego blocks, building something, then tearing it down, just to build something again. They color, they paint and they make things with clay. They will run around playing "house", "school" or even play, "mommy and baby". What I do find, is that when I play with them, that is, when I let go of my need to be serious and my need to be an adult, I actually love playing games with them. It brings me back to when I was a kid, when I didn't have the same responsibilities I have now. I guess playing games allows my mind to let go of all the things it is worried about, like bills, or replacing the leaky roof. Being silly once in a while is not so terrible.
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