100 Ways to Boost Your Creativity

Being creative is hard work. For all of us creative types, it’s important to understand how to channel that creativity individually so that we can seek after that distant, second-cousin, productivity. So, in an effort to help us understand our own creativity (believe me, this was as much for me as it was for you) I’ve compiled a list of 100 activities and other ways to help you find and boost your creative juices. If you have something to add to the list of creativity drivers below, please leave it in the comments section. Also, let us know what worked!

100 Activites and Factors to Leverage in Boosting Your Creativity

1. Surround yourself with whatever inspires you.
2. If you are struggling with something, name it. Then, describe it. If you can give it a name, and give it shape, you can have increased power over it.
3. Take a different route to work, or wherever it is you are going. Changing your routine can help get your creative juices flowing.
4. Draw something, or change the medium with which you usually work.
5. Fail. Allow yourself to fail. It’s just an iteration, right?
6. Write / send a postcard (preferably from somewhere inspiring!)
7. Minimize distractions…like the Internet. You know you are distracted if you are consuming someone else’s creativity, instead of expressing your own.
8. Carry a notebook, or a journal with you wherever you go. Yes, a cell phone could work, but there is something special about paper…
9. Color
10. Read fiction
11. Do laundry, or some other mundane task
12. Take a walk to somewhere new
13. Daydream
14. Restrict yourself. Exercising restraint while engaged in creativity or problem-solving results in better creativity.
15. Write a Haiku (see #14 above)
16. Make a list
17. Read an inspiring quote
18. Write a short poem
19. Laugh at something
20. Take pictures
21. Build something, say, with legos
22. Take a risk
23. Write / email someone famous. See if they write back
24. Pretend you’re someone else. What would they do?
25. Write free hand for ten minutes
26. Make a time capsule
27. Make a collage
28. Listen to music – with no lyrics
29. Write your future self a letter.
30. Write with pen and paper for ten minutes
31. Nap for a bit
32. Meditate
33. Challenge yourself
34. Try Yoga
35. Use a mind map to shape what you want to create
36. Free write for a while
37. Find / Consult a mentor
38. Sit on a bench, and people-watch for a while
39. Create a creative schedule. Try to be creative at the same time every day (it’s creative muscle memory, so to speak)
40. Brainstorm
41. Run your ideas by someone (sound boarding)
42. Create a deadline for yourself
43. Make a flow chart
44. Ask, “What if?”
45. Stand
46. Pace
47. Relax
48. Do your creating in the dark
49. Find someone who did what you want to do, but did it poorly. Kno you can do better
50. Forget about your weaknesses, and focus on your strengths
51. Let your mind wander
52. Play an instrument
53. Find other creatives to be with
54. Live more
55. Be playful
56. Let curiosity take over
57. Tell a story
58. Get more sleep
59. Develop a talent
60. Turn things on their head. Look at them differently
61. Listen to Binaural beats
62. Broaden your interests
63. Read a few blog posts on a creative topic that interests you. Comment on those posts.
64. Be different
65. Mix and mash several distinct ideas to create an entirely new one
66. Wake up early
67. Experiment
68. Take a break
69. Work in spurts
70. Ask for feedback
71. Form a new habit
72. Remove expectations
73. Ask yourself questions, out loud
74. Fill out a crossword puzzle
75. Have creative hobbies
76. Break a pattern in your life
77. Write down several observations
78. Learn something new
79. Exercise
80. Ask for help
81. Practice
82. Play devil’s advocate
83. Inspire someone
84. Boil it down to the least common denominator – do that thing
85. Do it / think of it in layers
86. Spend the afternoon in an art gallery
87. Join a critique group
88. Create / establish your process
89. Let yourself make a mess
90. Stop at an exciting moment when you want to keep going so that starting back up again tomorrow will be easy
91. Set a cut-off time
92. Find your specific creative time (is it morning, evening, or late night? Why then?)
93. Listen to ambient sounds
94. Make an outline
95. Dim the lights
96. Watch a relevant TED talk
97. Dictate
98. Use the wrong hand to do everyday things (the opposite hand you usually use)
99. Identify something right now with each of your senses. Write them down
100. Work backwards if you can. For writers, write the ending and work toward the beginning