“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits.” Twyla Tharp
Every break of daylight offers new and fresh opportunities to start again, to improve, to overcome. Celebrating the start of a new year is the proverbial cherry on top.
Because practicing good habits is a springboard to increasing our creativity, what better way to start the new year than to review our current habits and priorities in order to make our 2017 the most creative ever?
In today’s post, let’s look at five specific habits that are sure to spark creative energy into your daily endeavors.
- Join Instagram. Give your followers an idea of what goes on behind the scene of your creative work. Where does your creative energy take flight? Snap and share! Spiff up your camera skills and share your work (and others, as well.) Follow people or businesses that you might not normally follow to gain a deeper perspective of the world around you.
- Learn to Maximize your Minutes. E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web gets right to the heart in his popular quote: “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” Ouch. There’s plenty of detailed information on the Web as to how you can make this happen. The point is, it needs to happen.
- Define Your Peak Time and Stick to It. Most creative types are early risers. This fact has been documented numerous times but there are others, like Carl Sandburg, who worked late into the evening after everyone had gone to bed, writing till early morning. If you’re not sure when your energy level is at its peak, jot down how you’re feeling throughout the day – and do this for a week. By the end of the week, you should be able to tell where your peaks and plummets of energy occur most days. Define it, then do your best to do your most creative work during those hours if possible. If you hold a day job during that time, see #2 above. Arrange your break around that time. Get creative!
- Slow Down. Henry James nailed it with his quote, “A writer is someone on whom nothing is lost.” Our pace may be frantic for a season but even in the busiest of times we can shift our sensory panel into low gear by choosing to breath deeper, stare longer, listen more carefully. Take notes…a lot of them. No detail is too minute.
- Exercise. A little goes a long way in helping our bodies to stay fit as well as our minds.
Which of the above habits do you plan to begin in 2017? If you have a different one, please share!
