How to Create and Maintain a Creative Life

Living creatively isn’t just for artists, writers, or musicians. We can all enhance our professional and personal lives by adding in more playful, creative moments throughout our days. The fun part is that a “creative life” means something a bit different to everyone.

Here are eight of our best tips for creating and maintaining a creative life.

Schedule Creative Time

Allocating time on a regular basis for creativity helps you remain more engaged with your creative pursuits. If you don’t set aside a specific time for it, you may never get to it. You will always have household chores, work, or something else to do, which could prevent you from engaging in fun activities. Therefore, we recommend scheduling creative time into your week like you would put an appointment or meeting on your calendar. This way, you can guarantee that you will have time for your creative endeavors.

Set Your Phone to “Do Not Disturb (DND)”

Letting notifications come in from texts, emails, and apps all day puts you in a state of always needing to respond to someone. This can create a drain on your creativity. The constant notifications, endless social media scrolling, and endless information can leave you with information overload. Instead, take time away from your phone and computer every day to reset. Start with 30 minutes a day of no phone time. Each week after that, see how much you can increase your DND time.

Forget Perfectionism

One major creativity obstacle is believing everything you create must be flawless. This mindset, however, hinders your chances of enjoying the creative process. So, let go of your need to be perfect and instead just enjoy being creative.

Allow Yourself to Be Bored

When you allow yourself to be bored, it can positively impact your creativity. Our lives are so busy, and we’re constantly distracted by technology and information that we don’t ever give our brains a chance to rest. IF we take the time to be bored, our brains are free to wander and find new connections. When our brains get to recharge and rest, we create space for new ideas and ways of thinking that we may not have come up with otherwise. So, the next time you find a few minutes of free time, don’t pick up your phone and scroll through social media. Embrace the boredom.

Rediscover Your Inner Child

What activities did you love to do as a kid? Did you have an imaginary friend? Did you make up stories? Maybe you enjoyed coloring or putting together puzzles. Set your adult ways aside now and then and get reacquainted with the things you used to love as a kid. Soothing activities like coloring, playing video games, or solving a Rubik’s cube can help reduce stress, which in turn creates more room for play, fun—and creativity. If you have young children or grandchildren, start up a game of make-believe. Putting both your heads together to create imaginary situations isn’t much different from writing fiction.

Find Your Creative Circle

Just like having a team of colleagues at work to share and discuss ideas with, surrounding yourself with creative people in your personal life can be equally beneficial. These individuals can help you stay motivated with your creative pursuits, brainstorm ideas with you, and offer fresh perspectives when you’re feeling uninspired.

Start a New Hobby

Trick yourself into being more creative by trying a new hobby. Learn to play a musical instrument, try your hand at sourdough bread, or learn embroidery. The more you continue to learn new skills, the more you allow yourself to be creative.

Accept That You Won’t Always Feel Creative

It’s completely normal to have days when you don’t feel creative. If you’re not getting paid for your creativity, there’s no need to force yourself to be creative when you’re not feeling it. Sometimes, our brains just need some time to recharge.

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