18 Ways to Boost Your Creativity

I had the privilege of attending a Creative Thinking Workshop by Michelle James recently, and she had some great tips for recharging your daily routine and the ways you think about things. Here's what I learned...

1. Everyone is creative. Remember how creative you were at three or four?
2. The first rule of improve is to make everyone look good. It's good advice for interacting with others.
3. Learn something new. Try something new.
4. Deflection, jokes, and sarcasm shut down others' creativity.
5. Creativity is messy.
6. Work on your discovery skills. Look for new things. Go for a walk and look for something you haven't noticed before.
7. When you start to judge or evaluate something, it shuts down the creativity part. For writers, you need to just write. Do the editing/proofreading later.
8. Encourage different thinking in others and yourself.
9. Strive to make the impossible possible. Then make the possible look easy. Then make the easy look artful.
10. Google Brain Gym. There are a lot of exercises that you can do at your desk to stimulate creativity.
11. Keep your energy going.
12. Be present with what you're doing. Put down the phone and don't multi-task. Listen, contribute, and participate.
13. When you're brainstorming, use "yes, and." That gives you options and ideas. If you use "yes, but," you limit opportunities.
14. Have fun.
15. Ask yourself "how might I"?
16. Don't get too comfortable or complacent. Step out of your comfort zone.
17. Creative breakthroughs come at the edge of chaos.
18. Find a place where you can be creative.