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| Ink Spray Journal Map |
1. Classical music enhances creativity and intellectual pursuits. Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart work well to keep you focused so that you achieve a state of effortless concentration and enjoyment or "flow." Try playing any of the following when you approach your creative project today:
- St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach
- Nisi Dominus by Vivaldi
- Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach
- Rondo in A by Mozart
- Piano concertos nos. 20, 21, 23, 24 by Mozart
- The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
- Canon in D Major by Pachelbel
- Violin Sonata no. 5 in F Major, op. 24 "The Spring" by Beethoven
- Stop waiting for inspiration to strike. As the old saying goes, "A watched pot never boils."
- Pick something monotonous to do like mowing the lawn or washing the dishes. Your brain will keep working on an inspiration, like a pot cooking stew on the back burner.
- Once your mind starts to wander, you'll be surprised how quickly it will start generating ideas.
- The trick is to record the ideas as soon as they pop up, so you don't forget them.
3. Romance Your Creativity The creative process is very much like a relationship, the Idea Champions remind us. "And like most relationships, it usually begins with fascination -- that curious state of mind that keeps you spellbound, charmed, and aroused." But we all know that soon wears off. What then?
If you are serious about your current hot idea, be willing to get closer to it. Be willing to go from the romance stage to an intimate relationship.I'm in, are you?
Understand what the creative process is -- an impossible-to-deny encounter with yourself -- your fears, your power, your vision, and what drives you to play the game of life.
Above all, do whatever it takes to put the elation back into your relationship to creativity.
4. Stop Multitasking "Have your technology tools begun to manage you?" Myra While asks. If you're constantly multitasking, you are deluding yourself because the brain literally focuses on one thing at a time. Can you take focus away from driving for more than a moment? The reason is that your brain bottlenecks. And...
Constantly switching between even small tasks creates brain overload. Studies in which people's brains are scanned while multi-tasking clearly show that switching between tasks consumes a large portion of the brain's processing capacity.5. Leverage Your Creative Fears Fears are actually something we *create,* Marianne Mullen says. Knowing that fear never goes away, you can truly learn to leverage your fear, and she provides seven steps to to just that.
- Name it
- Own it
- Disprove it
- Claim it
- Act on it
- Acknowledge it
- Repeat it - Make a strong commitment to your creativity and trust in yourself that taking risks can only create more confidence and that you ARE getting stronger than your fears.
Once I published 12 Sparks for Heads-Up Creativity, on Forbes' Mind Makeover, I could not let go of my project. Ever have that happen? Would you be willing to share a strategy to "fire up" your creativity? If so, provide the details or a link where I can find it.
Ink Spray Journal Map by Joanna Paterson.
8 comments:
Excellent work Robyn, in that it stokes creative designs from all of us. How does what you wrote it transfer into the creativity required to market and sustain creativity.
It seemed to me as I read this work that we have yet to figure out how to get back the market value for much creativity in US. Thoughts?
I particularly like the idea that we have a relationship with our creativity, and like any relationship we have to put work into it. Once the honeymoon is over, the work begins! Love it. Thanks for sharing!
I often suffer from the "brain bottlenecking" you described... Guess I've got to give up the multi-tasking (at least a little bit...)! Lots of good stuff in this post, Robyn. Thanks!
Kathy
Ellen, thanks for your encouragement. I see these strategies used in many organization where innovation is valued, yet the creative process often needs a jump-start.
If the creator is self-employed, I see the person using these strategies to figure out how to get the payback deserved for their products. It might mean first to research how to market and networking to ask marketers for strategies.
Creative people use their assets to apply applications in many arenas.
Terry, like you I really enjoyed the article on Romancing Your Creativity. The more I thought about it, it made sense that over time we have built a relationship with creativity.
I appreciate your comment and when I visited your site, I enjoyed your work.
Kathy, bottlenecking often comes for me with internet distractions. In the middle of what I'm doing I can feel tempted to take a quick peek in Twitter and I really do better work when I stay focused, finish the task and then look at Twitter or another site. ;-)
Brain based biz are the best way to go for business you can use the internet for example that takes alot of thinking.
Thanks for including my post on Leveraging Your Creative Fears! What a privilege to be included in an article about Enhancing Creativity which such other wise wisdom!
Best,
Marianne
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