“I have never had a creative idea or an ah-ha moment sitting at my laptop.”
That is what Jason Zook said on his Invisible Office Hours podcast with Paul Jarvis. Zook and Jarvis are both well-known online entrepreneurs. The laptop is key to their success. They know, however, that the way to find creative ideas isn’t to type through creativity valleys until you find your idea on the laptop. Instead, you need to change things up.
Jarvis agreed. “I’m most creative when I stop working,” he said.
When you get in a creative jam, try one of these three ways to give yourself a creative jolt.
Here’s what I learned from listening to the Invisible Office Hours podcast episode on creativity:
Take a Shower
I know it’s cliche, but it works. There is something about a shower that clears your mind up to process, reorganize, and rethink ideas.
Jarvis gave a great tip. Stop working and go take a five minute shower.
Go for a Walk (or a Run)
Steve Jobs went for walks to think through ideas. So do a lot of other people.
I just heard bestselling author Jon Gordon talk about his “Gratitude Walks” on the Unmistakeable Creative podcast. He said his routine is pretty simple: write first thing in the morning, go on a Gratitude Walk, then come back and write some more. Sometimes he’s literally running in the door to write down the creative ideas he had on his walk.
Look Outside Your Bubble
Don’t look at the other big names or people in your creative arena, Zook pointed out. That just leads you down a path of comparison and subconscious copying. You will wish you were like someone else and try to be like them with your art. Then you will just become derivative.
Go watch an episode of Chef’s Table on Netflix. Read a blog outside your circle of creatives. Get ideas from other areas and connect them to your work and see what happens.
Further reading on laptops and office space: Austin Kleon has another solution to the lackluster creativity of the laptop. He has two desks: analog and digital. Read more about the difference here.
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