Staying Creatively Full
Creatively Full vs Finding Inspiration
Staying creatively full is different than finding inspiration, but it builds off of finding Inspiration. If you haven't read my blog, Finding Inspiration for Your Business, click to read it. Finding inspiration is the action of going out to be inspired. It does fill the creative well, but a second step is necessary if you want to stay creatively full. As an artist, I keep my creativity at a maximum level by maintaining an offensive stance rather than a defensive one and reacting to what I don't have.
Finding inspiration is like saying: I don't have anything; I need to go out and find some inspiration. But, staying creatively full is when you already have inspiration but want to stay on the offense. It is looking for ways to stay way ahead of a creatively dry place where you have lost the stimulus and need to find it even to keep moving. You could argue that this could be a matter of semantics, but I believe there is a real difference.
How I Stay Creatively Jam-Packed
1. Margin. I create a margin in my life. Back-to-back meetings and events can take a toll over time. Creating margin and some downtime is essential. It keeps your body and mind in sync.
2. Reflection time. It is also known as thinking time. Reflection could include journaling or other ways of capturing your thoughts (I have an Idea Journal that you can read about how I use it in the blog “Using Imagination to Boost Creativity”)
3. Reading. It is good to read because it engages the mind differently than a video or movie. As you read, it quiets the mind and gently fills your creative well. It doesn't mean a film won't do something creative for you. It can stimulate ideas when you don't have them. But keeping yourself bursting with creativity requires different steps than finding inspiration.
4. Stimulating conversations. If you engage in great conversation, you will stay creatively full. It sharpens the mind and keeps the mental connections strong.
5. Field Trips. I wrote about this in my blog on Finding Inspiration for Your Business, but the field trip activity can also help us stay creatively filled.
6. Attending a conference or retreat. It keeps you creatively filled up. It utilizes all these principles simultaneously. It uses margin in your life, reflection, thinking, stimulating conversation, and field trip type opportunities.
7. Unplug. If you unplug from social media and other forms of screen time, it will allow time for your mind to process all the ideas and thoughts you have already put inside it. The mind needs time to process the information you already put in there and connect the dots creatively. Then, when you put more inside, there is a place to store it.
How A Business Can Stay Creatively Full?
As a business, you are working hard to be a creative organization. You are setting processes in place to have a culture of creativity and innovation. You are hiring creative people. You have creative meetings. These same principles that I use apply to your business as well. As the leader of your team, you want to stay creatively filled. You can do that by utilizing these same seven principles:
1. Margin. Back-to-back meetings are fine but build in some margin in there someplace. You need to design space in your day. It won't happen unless you plan for it.
2. Reflection time. It may be hard to do at the office unless it is intentional and you schedule it. Reflection time can happen while driving home or riding the bus. If you journal or write for 30 minutes a day, that will be enough to quiet your mind and allow for reflection in ways nothing else will. It doesn't matter where you do your reflection time; as long as you do it
3. Reading. Either it seems to me that leaders are avid readers, or they don't read much at all. I have been both, and I have found being a reader helps me be a better leader and a better artist. If you aren't reading, your teams may not be readers. Yet if your team is reading and you aren't, they will bypass you in ways that may expose some insecurities. It is best to be ahead of the game and be a reader. Many leaders do this at night before going to bed, or they might get a chapter or two in between their meetings during their margin time.
4. Stimulating conversations. It could be with your team, but it could also be with people outside the office. Seeking out stimulating discussions can be very beneficial to your business. Read Daniel Melfi’s blog, “The One Thing You Should Do to Amp Up Your Creativity.”
5. Field Trips. Build on the steps to Finding Inspiration for Your Business. Allow the process to inspire, but also continue the process to stay full of creativity.
6. Attend a conference or retreat. Again, I have found leaders either do this avidly or don't feel they can. To stay creatively filled up, I would encourage you to attend a conference. Get away. You won't regret it.
7. Unplug. Even leaders get caught up with the mindless scrolling on social media. Take some time to unplug. Will you have FOMA? Probably. You will have FOMA even if you do mindless scrolling down your social media. It won't matter. FOMA won't go away. You might as well unplug for a while and rejuvenate creatively. Shelley Carson in her article, “Temporarily Unplugged: A Good Idea to Foster Creativity,” says that this is critical in today’s business world.
Until then, take steps to stay creatively filled. As you do, you will find yourself living on The Creative Edge.
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Other great articles I found beneficial are:
Shelley Carson, “Creativity in the 21st Century”
Peter Gasca, “4 Tips to Unplug and Promote Creativity”
Brendon Burchard has a great video “How To Unplug”
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