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 April 4th 2007
 Personal Development
 3 comments
Creativity is all about coming up with new ideas, interpretations and methods and involves thinking and exploring what goes through your mind. It’s a quality that should be encouraged in all walks of life. Regardless of whether you are naturally imaginative or not, you need to feed your creative side with inspirational material, give it the time and attention it needs and let it run free. Below are the five key variables that I have found to work best in getting those creative juices running:
- Get a notepad
So many ideas come and go through your mind, you will forget them if they are not noted down. Don’t constrain yourself with neatness. Write, jot and scribble down whatever comes to your mind. It doesn’t have to be a notepad either, just as long as it’s something you can have with you all of the time for when those moments of magic come into your mind.
- Stop stressing
It is true that anxiety and traumatic experiences can get the creative juices flowing, but it’s certainly not something you want to rely on. Ideally you want your mind to be relaxed so it can put all its energies into being creative. Deadlines and pressure from your boss doesn’t help.
- Cut out distractions
When you have a creative thought you need to run with it and see where it takes you. However, this process is made easier when the phone doesn’t rang for the tenth time, your neighbors don’t play their music really loud or your boss doesn’t demand yet another report on your progress…
- The right ambience
I was originally going to write about making sure you get peace and quiet but some people get more creative when they have music in the background (classical and jazz tend to be the popular choice as they are generally lyrics-lite). Lighting is also an issue. Do you work better when it’s warm, sunny and bright or do you prefer a darker environment so your senses aren’t overwhelmed?
- Location, location, location
Once you have your notebook, got all those stressful demons out of your mind, turned your mobile off (and if it works for you, put some of your favorite music on your MP3 player), you don’t want to then find yourself boxed up at home. As I said earlier, creativity needs room to breath. Feeling cramped on a small desk in the corner of your room is far from ideal. Find an inspirational location!
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