How often do you get creative highs? Is it 3 times a day, 3 times a week or 3 times a month? Creativity is like oxygen. If you don’t get enough, then the brain begins to suffer. People love to use their imagination, solve problems and see positive results. Here are three ideas for maintaining your creativity.

1) You can clarify where you get your creative highs.

When do you feel creative? You may cooking, playing music, painting, giving presentations, gardening, selling to customers, fixing problems or whatever. One person wrote:

“My highs have changed over the years. Once they came from creating order out of chaos, such as putting together a budgeting process for our department. Sounds sad - but I enjoyed finding a simple but effective solution. Then I ‘rediscovered’ people. Partly it came from seeing my daughter’s joy when learning - but also from seeing people develop in my team. Previously I had considered myself a poor ‘people manager’ - partly because I get impatient with serial moaners. But I found I got a kick from seeing motivated people consider an idea and then go: ‘Ah, yes’. So I threw myself into ‘learning about learning’. I am still good at following business principles - but now love helping motivated people to learn.”

There are probably several activities where you enjoy a sense of excitement coupled with that of peace. When do you flow, focus, finish and get a sense of fulfilment? For the sake of this exercise, it may be good to just focus on one activity – perhaps one you want to do more in the future. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific activity where I get creative highs is:

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2) You can clarify the reasons you get creative highs.

Why do you feel good doing this activity? Perhaps it is because you follow your passion, translate it into a clear purpose and get positive results. Perhaps it is because you lose yourself and become absorbed in the activity. Perhaps it is because you do something that has a positive impact. One writer explained why he loved producing short articles.

“I obviously enjoy writing – but creating a short article just takes a day, which means I quickly see a finished product. There is a beginning, middle and end to the whole creative process. Apart from doing what I do best - which is writing - I feel in control. Producing a short article enables me to shape and create a whole world. Seeing the end result is extremely satisfying.”

Looking at the specific activity you want to do more in the future, try completing the following sentence.

The reasons why I get creative highs doing this activity are:

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3) You can plan how to get more creative highs in the future.

Creativity is a habit. So how can you create the right conditions for exercising this muscle? Here are some suggestions:

a) Set yourself up to be creative. Start by identifying your prime times - the times of the day when you have most energy. Plan ahead and protect those times. Create the right environment. You may work best when being alone, playing music, working in a certain room or whatever. Give yourself the best opportunity of doing satisfying work.

b) Follow your successful pattern for being creative. Looking back on your life, think of the times when you have done stimulating work. What did you do right then? How can you follow these principles in the future? Find and follow these patterns. Set yourself up for success. Depending on the time available, you may want to create a single page of writing, a rough design for a prototype or other kind of ‘finished product’. Do something that gives you a sense of satisfaction.

c) Keep yourself healthy. Sleep well, eat well, keep your mind and body in good condition. This increases the chances of using all your senses when being imaginative. Be patient and go easy on yourself. Sometimes the creative juices do not flow. Relax, have a cup of tea, take a walk, let your mind wander. Learn how to make good use of the ‘fallow times’. Get lots of positive stimulation. Inspire yourself by being with encouraging people, reading thought-proving books and immersing yourself in creative experiences. Keep your mind and body fresh and alive.

Employ the creative muscle at least 3 times a week. You will then become positively addicted – which will lead to a sense of joy. Looking to the future, how can you get more of these experiences? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to get
more creative highs in the future are:

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