5 Strategies To Boost Your Creativity To Deal With Life

By Kathryn Ramsperger | July 10, 2018 |

People ask me how I’m as productive as I am. Here’s my secret: I am creative. Here’s an even better secret: You’re creative, too! And you can learn how to access and use your creativity. I have loads of tips and strategies to help you learn how to boost your creativity to deal with life, even through life’s disappointments and interruptions, to make you happier and more fulfilled.

You can start with these tips to boost your creativity to deal with life:

1. Have a Peace Practice.

I devote a full two hours in the morning to a practice that keeps me centered, grounded, and creative. It sometimes doesn’t last the whole day, but at least it starts the day off right. That’s why I do my best writing in the morning, right after I meditate, tap using The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), exercise, and take a shower. I then watch something that makes me feel happy and/or stimulates my creativity before I ever open my emails. I end my day with a clearing technique, a gratitude list, and a prayer. You don’t have to be like me. Yet find one or more of these techniques and stick with it every morning, and watch your mind open up to possibilities instead of feeling like things are impossible. Consistency is key.

2. Ask Questions.

I’ve always asked questions naturally. It’s why I became a journalist. Questions are the best way I know to boost your creativity and also to step into the story to deal with life. I was asking “why” long before I learned about the 4 Ws and 1H of the news lead. I wanted to know how the world worked and what made people tick from a young age. However, learning to ask questions is merely creating a habit. When we create a habit, we become more creative. Capiche? When you meet someone, ask them a few questions about themselves. If you’re stewing in a pot of misery, ask yourself questions.

Start with “how do I know ‘fact’ that’s leading to negative feelings is true?”
Then ask yourself,”how can I change my perspective?”
And end with, “How can I forgive, especially myself, in this situation?”

3. Make Connections.

I do this one of two ways: I mindmap or categorize. Or I draw, doodle and journal. If I’m stuck on something I’m writing, or second-guessing my home life skills, this is the way I can see through the haze of a day’s jumble and arrive at clarity. Susan Gregory gives us a great video explanation on mindmapping. Or contact me if you need tips on how to journal yourself to creative clarity, and thus experience less stress and more success. The way I journal uses both intuition and organization to arrive at a conclusion. Hint: Creative thinking involves taking neural activity in the brain related to one concept (the family dog) and twisting it with activity related to another concept (rabies).

4. Play. Dream. Repeat.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not as creative? Struggling for creativity at work? Take a vacation. Or at least a short walk or power nap at lunch. Sleep is not slacking. We’re rejuvenating parts of our brains, and our dreams are helping us make those ever-important connections. Keep a dream journal, and at least once every two weeks notice the connections between those dreams. You don’t dream? Then daydream and write down what comes up. If you’ve got a problem, chances are the solution will not come from your conscious brain, it’ll come from your subconscious brain. Ever notice how inspiration arrives when you’re playing with something on your desk, listening to music, or doodling? So relax, have fun, or just close your eyes for a minute or two! It’s the best thing you can do for stress at work and life!

5. Be Happy.

Having a creative moment can even help you with depression. Ask your coach or therapist about art or music therapy. Or coach yourself through a bad day by using creativity. Find a daily joke or time with a friend who makes you laugh. Sing in the shower. Color for five minutes. Get a massage or a mani/pedi. Hug an animal or child. Come on, you know what makes you happy. Just do it! Then write down your feelings or what happened daily and figure out how to make it into a poem. The personal is usually universal. Yet only if you find how to fit those creative puzzle pieces together in your own unique way.

Want some more life-altering creativity tips? You can find some on my author site shoresofoursouls.com. But if you want to bat around a few ideas or get some advice, contact me for a complimentary meet-your-creativity session. Please let me know that’s what you’d like to schedule in your message. Your creativity and I are looking forward to chatting with you!

Posted in Creativitity and tagged creativity, happiness, healing, peace, problem solving, productivity, sleep, solutions for depression, solutions for overwhelm, spiritual practice, women's issues