29 Ways to Stay Creative—Part Two
29 Ways to Stay Creative—Part Two
by Jen White
I LOVE to see things that take BIG thoughts and break them down for LITTLE people like me. In this new series of blogposts, I am wanting to share and discuss an infographic I found called 29 Ways to Stay Creative by Islam Abudaoud. Because there is SO much fantastic information packed into one little graphic, I’m planning to split my series into five parts. Here is part two.
#6 Take Breaks
We talked a little about this in Part One of this series. Unless you are really on a roll, taking breaks in the creative process will have you looking at your work with a refreshed brain.
Here are a few things to try that work well for me:
- Take 15 minutes to declutter a room of your house.
- Fold a load of laundry.
- Walk 10 minutes down the road, then 10 minutes back.
#7 Sing in the Shower
Well, I will not include an audio file here. That’s good news for you because I cannot carry a tune to save my life. Nonetheless, I do LOVE to sing in the shower. I’ll admit, however, that I had no idea that singing helped me to be creative. I just thought it made me happy, and—depending on what I sing—it gets the focus of the day off ME.
Here are a few ideas:
- Crank up the music on your phone and set it on the sink.
- Get a waterproof radio or Bluetooth speaker.
- Belt out whatever is on your heart—my personal fav!
#8 Drink Coffee
I’m not much of a coffee gal, but a steamy cup of English Breakfast hot tea gets me going. In fact, when I’m creating, I’ve always got a cold sippy of water or a hot mug of tea sitting on my library table. (Those are occasionally accompanied by a light snack as well.)
Here’s part of my routine:
- Mix it up. Drink 8 oz. of water, then treat yourself with something flavorful. Repeat.
- Avoid the sugar—remember, what goes up must come down.
- Dark chocolate, ‘nuf said!
#9 Listen to Music
When you create, do you listen to music? I do. Silence makes me tired. My music of choice when I really need to concentrate is a mix of instrumental worship albums. If I’m working on a lighter project, I tend to want to crank up the volume and rattle the windows.
Here are a few things to try that have helped me:
- Experiment to see what types of music help your brain get moving.
- Add earbuds to drown out distracting noises.
- Take an occasional break from your project and just let the music soothe and refresh you.
#10 Be Open
The older I get, the more I have to fight against a natural tendency to just coast through life. I have to work hard at keeping my mind open to learning new things or changing my old ways of thinking. It takes time and energy to learn a new skill.
By giving yourself the gift of learning, you are also keeping your mind active and creative. I encourage you to be open to new experiences and ideas. It’s a win-win situation.
- Don’t shy away from software upgrades. They contain inspiring new features.
- Cameras are evolving at an alarming rate. Pick up a new one and take a class.
- Linda Sattgast is the perfect companion to learn digital scrapbooking with. Try a class today.
Tell me what you think. Do you do any of the above suggestions? How do you think they help you?
229 Ways to Stay Creative for Digital Scrapbookers
part one | part two | part three | part four | part five
_____________________________________________
Author: Jen White | jen@digitalscrapper.com
All comments are moderated.
Please allow time for your comment to appear.
Great ideas – I agree w/every one except background music: when I really need to think things through, I pop in earplugs. Have always thought that silence is highly under-rated in our culture. With respect to slowing down w/age, we differ there too, I guess, because at age 72 I am trying to learn everything I can that interested me years ago when life and exhaustion (from spreading myself waay too thin) got in the way of pursuing hobbies. I’ve taken every single one of Linda’s FABULOUS classes and recommend them all HIGHLY to anyone who wants to achieve a “Personal Best” in digi scrapping – nothing out there on the web (or anywhere else, e.g., books or brick-and-mortar classrooms) even comes close. Your teaching is splendid too, young lady; I’ve followed your techniques eagerly and appreciate your reflections here on tips for maintaining a fresh creative spirit. Thank you.
(I would add that prayer helps too 🙂
Bonnie, you are a little ray of sunshine! Keep learning my friend. You inspire me. 😀
I agree with everything said, even though I am in the middle of Linda’s class, but have a full blown house project I am struggling with at the same time. Where else but the master bedroom. Its like doing a scrapbook page, the paper was easy now the elements are tough. The only problem is I cannot hit the delete button and erase my purchases. So I have to make them work! nor can I use a mask to hide or see stuff. So I spend my day spinning my wheels looking out the window wishing I was outside gardening. Today at 85* I was getting my nails done. Black did it help? Today I should have picked yellow. There that is what I need – YELLOW YELLOW and MORE YELLOW. I will start tomorrow. Thanks for trying to help. I’m useless..
Jen: These are great idea! I think that they can apply to almost anything that you are trying to accomplish. So very fitting for our everyday busy lives. I like your additions of ideas to the original points. Vey good indeed. I think I will go for a walk.
Hi Jen–I’m enjoying these reminders. I’m pretty creative and do most of these (or something similar). Like you, I prefer tea to coffee, but enjoy new tea treats like Morning Thunder (because of the buffalo on the box, if you can believe that!), Bengal Spice (again, a really good box), and I think the new (at least to me) guayusa leaf Runa Clean Energy tea surely inspires me. Given that my enjoyment of the great teas often has to do with package design…hmmm. Clearly the visual is as important to me as the taste. What if I just drank warm water and looked at the boxes I like? ho haa.
I love your writing style, Jen. You are SO funny and a very good writer. (I’m a very picky editor in work life (they call me Picky Pen)–but never need my virtual red pen with you!)
HA! Come to think of it—I might like my tea just because the package is RED and it has a cool name!! Funny!! I’ll have to look for your favorite buffalo. 😀
And your comment reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“Keep talking. I’m silently correcting your grammar.”
I have a “virtual red pen” as well. Just cannot seem to put it away!! 😀