It’s happened to the best of us, at the worst of times – creative block! Whether you’re a food caterer enticing your would-be customers with exotic dishes, a graphic designer showcasing their most creative inventions, a hair stylist promoting your business with extraordinary styles or you’re launching a brand new product with your own unique style and brand – there will be seasons of highs and lows for inspiration.
Creativity can also be expressed in your marketing strategy. It requires thinking outside the box by trying new and different strategies to reach your desired business goals. The question is, however – what do you do when slammed with a wave of dwindling creativity in the middle of a project?
Take a break
For starters, the one thing not to do is completely abandon the project. That would be a waste of an idea, which would prove ineffective in your bid for success. Rather, seek out fresh ideas from outside your current sphere of thinking. Allow your mind to explore further and broaden your scope without limiting yourself to the present topic you’re stuck on. This way the inspiration is not forced or rushed and you might even have a fresh perspective or more brilliant ideas to add to your project!
Exercise
Have you ever sat down to work and found it almost impossible to begin weaving your creation, let alone staying awake? This is sometimes caused by inactivity, and some exercise would be the ideal remedy. Whether you head out for a brisk walk or a mild jog, a bike ride or a home work-out – it’s a scientifically proven fact that people who exercise regularly enhance their cognitive abilities, which, in turn, promotes creativity. Professor Lorenza Colzato, cognitive psychologist of Leiden University in the Netherlands, found that people who exercise four times a week were able to think more creatively in solving problems than those with a sedentary lifestyle. According to Professor Lorenza, “Anecdotal literature suggests that creative people sometimes use bodily movement to help overcome mental blocks and lack of inspiration.”
Keep a notepad handy
A jolt of inspiration may come unexpectedly without you seeking it out, especially after a creative dry spell. Keeping a pocket notepad handy would ensure that you get that spontaneously brilliant idea down on paper. Remember, creativity is all around – it could be the words of a song, witnessing a scene while on a bus, a bumper sticker on a car, a poster, or random conversations with a stranger or friends. With all this creative genius floating around, you shouldn’t chance it slipping away by trying to commit them to memory. Writing down your ideas as they come will give you a solid place of reference for future projects. Especially for those times when the flicker of invention is dwindling.
Break the Mould
Routine can be stifling to your creativity. The truth is, our everyday lives have been patterned after the habits we adapt to – wake up, go to work, encounter much of the same, come home, go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow. However, one way to break that mould is to do the opposite of what you do ordinarily. Even if it re-structures your own patterned behaviour, approach the tasks you’ve grown accustomed to from a different perspective. It will engage your brain and induce it think of creative solutions to the issues you’ve dealt with routinely, especially if you’re a aspiring entrepreneur with creative talent who’s stuck in a mundane job. Believe it or not, this can boost your creative genius tremendously.
There are many more inventive ways to dispel the creative block that catches us off guard from time to time, but these are proven methods to keep the juices flowing. Whether you own a business, work for a company or you’re planning to start your own creative venture, when it comes to creativity, you can always make something out of nothing. In the words of renowned poet, C.S. Lewis, “You can make anything by writing.”Apply this saying to your creative skill and amaze yourself with unbound possibility.
