Find a rhythm to infuse creativity into your life
Creativity needs a rhythm. A rhythm, routine, ritual, practice — whatever you want to call it. You can’t expect inspiration to flow if you don’t regularly give yourself the head space and time to explore ideas and create. Successful creative people use routines to wrangle their creative skills and keep the rust off their creative process. To be more consistently creative, find the activities and pacing that puts you in a positive frame of mind and develop a rhythm for your work and your life.
Our creativity can be stifled in today’s modern world — we’re bombarded with alerts and notifications around the clock, and this constant flow of interruptions can suffocate the part of our brain where ideas come from. Our subconscious processes information and problems, and we need to give it the space to find solutions that become those sparks of inspiration.
Something small, every day.
The more you work out your creativity muscle, the stronger it will become and the more second-nature it will be to think creatively. Austin Kleon, the author of Steal like an Artist and Show your work! shares his philosophy on creating a routine to drive the creative process: “something small, every day. Figure out what your little daily chunk of work is, and every day, no matter what, make sure it gets done…You can find the time to work if you look for it.”
Don’t let “being busy” be an excuse. We’re all busy, so finding a rhythm that works for you will help to carve out a space to be creative. If you’re a parent (or mentor like me), try involving your little ones in your creative practice.
So, get to work flexing those creative muscles!
We’re all creative
Remember how easily we used our imaginations to play, draw and make up stories as children? Over time, school and professional careers taught us to be more analytical, and many jobs now stifle creativity. If you don’t have a job that requires (or allows) you to be creative, it’s even more important for you to create a routine that allows you to be creative in your off-hours. When you’re being creative, you’ll feel happier and more focused.
Our team’s rhythm
- Scott plays the guitar a little bit each day and heads to the dojo a few times a week.
- Rose takes walks, practices yoga and meditates.
- Katie uses her camera whenever she can to take photos from new perspectives, colors in an adult coloring book and hits the gym.
- Sedora periodically takes creative classes to explore new mediums (like painting and calligraphy), free-form creates on weekends, and for daily inspiration, goes on morning runs and scrolls through Instagram to look at colorful shots and interesting perspectives/techniques.
Ideas and resources to infuse creativity into your schedule
There are lots of ways to infuse creativity into your schedule. Being active helps, as does going out into nature. Try to set aside dedicated time each day — even if only for 10 minutes — to be creative. Some people set up creative-only areas in their homes, while others focus more on the practice rather than the physical space.
Find your rhythm. Keep it fun! Try to create structure and space to channel that creative side. Here are some more resources and ideas to help you get into a creative rhythm:
- 10 ways to inject creativity into your daily life
- 5 rituals to explore creativity through mindful practices (and some useful apps and resources!)
Have a favorite creative practice you love? Share it with us!