Some of us need creativity to feel alive. And that includes all areas of our live. One of the difficult areas to find creativity can be in work. Even in a creative field it can be difficult to be creative and different because it seems to be human nature to develop routines that kind of shut our brain off as we complete tasks.
This is a good thing most of the time. As we get better at our jobs we often lose some creativity. Not always and not all the time, but often.
But this can lead to getting into a rut or a funk or whatever. This can lead to issues.
Let’s say you want to add some creativity back into your work.
Here are some ideas…
1. Work With New Co-Workers
In most jobs we tend to work with the same people. Sometimes it’s just by the structure of the organization. Sometimes it’s because we gravitate toward certain people. This can lead to some really great work. But other times it can lead to a lack of creativity.
So one way to spark some creativity is to try working with different people. Obviously you still need to get work done, but try working with someone else on a project or task. It will often cause your brain to really focus since you’re doing something differently and not on auto-pilot.
2. Work In A Different Room
Sometimes it might just take some new scenery to spark creativity. Try working in an unused meeting or conference room for the afternoon. Maybe see if you can collaborate with another employee for the afternoon by working with them in their office.
Another tangent tip for this one is to rearrange your office. The new look might spark something in your brain that gets the creativity flowing again.
3. Try Someone Else’s Process
You have your way of doing things. Your way probably works great. But if you’re struggling with creativity, try asking a co-worker how they do a certain task. Or talk to a colleague that does something similar to you. Learn the details about how they do the task or job.
Then try it yourself. You don’t necessarily need to give up on what works for you, but the new perspective could lead to more creativity and possibly even a better and more efficient way of completing your work.
4. Switch Order Of Routine
We all fall into certain patterns of going through our day. We do certain things first and other things at the very end of the day. And sometimes this is required by the job and can’t really be messed with.
But it can be interesting to trying doing tasks in a different order during the day. Instead of checking email in the morning, check it during the last hour of the day. I’ve actually found that this one can work really well. You can clean up the inbox and leave the office feeling accomplished.
5. Train On Different Task
See if there is something you could learn at work. Maybe a different job or a different task. You don’t want to take away too much time from your regular work, but see if the boss might be interested in spending maybe 10% of your time working on something else to see how it goes.
Learning something new can even provide a new perspective that can lead to a different outlook on your current tasks.
Conclusion
Creativity is a requirement for many of us. Without it, we don’t feel alive. And work can be a really tricky thing. One on hand, it’s good to get into routines. They help us be efficient. But on the other, they can take away the creativity that originally went into the job.
So if you’re feeling stuck and uncreative, hopefully these ideas can be something that might work or maybe they’ll even spark a different idea that will work for you.