On this blog we often talk about the various side hustles that you can undertake to boost your income. A lot of the time, our readers find that they’re not able to fully express their creative sides at their day job. As such, they often turn to platforms like Etsy to make and sell crafts, or they may write short stories to sell on Amazon, do blog posts etc. The list goes on!
Personally, I do understand what it feels like to hit the wall with creativity. In fact, it happens often when I try to come up with content for this blog. Creativity isn’t a measured science and therefore it cannot be treated as such. So it’s difficult to really pin point what hinders or propels our creativity.
In any case, people have discovered new and inventive ways to boost creativity over the years. By studying their surroundings and habits, they were able to discover ways through which they could tap into their creative side and bring out the best they had to offer.
In this article, I’ll share with you several ways through which you can boost your creativity when you feel like you’re in the “idea desert”.
Let’s begin!
Find something that can really “jig” your creativity
When I was younger, I had a deck of cards called the “Creativity Whack Pack”. On each card were questions and guidelines that we designed to get you to think outside of the box. Yes, it’s a simple idea. But it definitely should not be underestimated!
Just going through the short exercises on each card was enough to kick my mind into creative gear. And for those of you who know, once you’re in the zone, you’re an unstoppable juggernaut!
Another option is for you to watch some videos related to your niche or activity. This could give you ideas that you can implement in your own side hustle!
Make yourself comfortable so that you can focus on your work
Here’s another thing that often flies under the rader.
One of the mistakes many people make is that they start trying to create something before they’ve made themselves completely comfortable. When your body is comfortable, you get the “psychic bandwidth” required to boost your creativity. Your mind isn’t getting distracted by the heat, little itches etc.
What I find really helpful in the summer months is to use an air conditioner. Don’t have one? You can always drop by at a place like National Air Warehouse to get a big AC to fend off distracting heat. You can also run a check on things like the stove, the windows or the front door to make sure everything is closed or turned off.
Make sure you have all your necessities nearby. Drinks, snacks, your phone, your charger, your tools, and anything else that you might need. That way, you won’t be getting up to get these things when the need arises. All these things will allow you to concentrate fully on your work and unlock your mind!
Combinations
Combining things is a beautiful thing and it’s how many of the world’s most ingenious ideas came to life. If you can’t choose between two things, then don’t. You can just combine them and create a whole new concept or idea. That’s the kind of workflow that will feed your creativity and before you know it, your mind is flooded with great ideas. Can’t decide between an astronaut and a cowboy? Then a space cowboy it is!
Let yourself be challenged
This is a bit of a spin on the “jig” your creativity idea.
When you run out of ideas, try taking suggestions from a random word generator. These websites let you generate entire lists of random word that have nothing to do with each other. However, what may appear as a random list to some can be the source of inspiration for others.
Trying to find ways in which you can blend the different ideas generated by the list will wake up your creative side and see things from a completely new perspective. Even if you don’t end up using any of the ideas generated on the list, they will still remain embedded in your mind and will serve for inspiration on a later project or even the next day.
Conclusion
It’s completely natural to feel like you’ve hit a wall with your ideas sometimes. However, the important thing is to implement a few easy tricks to get your mind in the groove again. Here’s to your success!
