We love to think of "creativity" as something that's reserved for the arts industries, crafters who spend most of their time on the weekends at Michael's, and our children. Finger painting! How creative!
But creativity runs deeper than that, and one could argue that it actually is the backbone of our success in the workplace as adults. Sure, typing up a memo for the office might not feel very creative - but if your memo is interesting, well-written, concise... that takes creativity, my friend, whether you want to admit it or not.
To me, there are two pieces of creativity: the dreaming up of the idea in the first place, and the energy/enthusiasm with which is it executed. I can sit here and throw out one hundred ideas for television shows ("A man who gets hit by a bus and realizes that he's been dead for 20 years and nobody even noticed..." "A woman who lives in a field in Norway and raises killer bees to be her own personal military..." etc.) or other creative endeavors.
But the passion to carry out those ideas? You know you've got the creative spark when you actually feel as though you could go forth and bring those ideas into reality.
Which brings me to my point. Sometimes, it's really freaking hard to feel creative. Sometimes you sit at the computer and stare at it hatefully because ideas will not flow and that "well of creativity" is a dried up, pruney vacuum that makes you want to scream.
Here's how to multiply your creativity - for free!
Make Sleep a Priority
I know. Everyone was really hoping this wasn't going to be an article about getting enough sleep, but zzzzzz! It is.
When you sleep enough, you wake up rested, energized and happier. Sitting down at your computer the next day suddenly doesn't feel so daunting - especially because, often, you had a really interesting dream the night before that got you thinking about the nature of life and death and Donald Trump (okay, maybe it was a nightmare, which can be equally creative).
Not only sleeping at night, but setting aside time for naps during the day can be a really rejuvenating way to induce creative thinking. Stuck on that project that you have to turn in by the end of the day tomorrow? Lie down for an hour and see what happens when you wake up again. Chances are, a brilliant insight will pop into your head at some point during the afternoon.
At the very least, you'll have renewed energy to keep going.
Why It Matters So Dang Much
As a writer and entrepreneur, I have come to realize that one of my chief assets is a capacity for creativity. It's the same for you, whatever line of work you're involved in, be it an assemblywoman in a factory or a fashion designer in Paris.
The ability to look at a situation and imagine solutions or predict future challenges is creativity. It's your mind thinking about the pieces in front of you in a new way, and your way of looking at these situations is uniquely yours.
Ultimately, we're selling ourselves. Not in a Roxanne type of way, of course, but in the business world - or even in the dating world! - our greatest asset is always our energy, ideas and time.
Creativity is the root of all. It's our perspective on the world, our deepest essence and our most intimate inner life, and it deserves to be cultivated... don't you think?
Allison Volk specializes in creating authority and visibility for businesses and entrepreneurs through effective content marketing via her business, The Blog Babe. She is also an actress and screenwriter it Los Angeles, California. Find out more at www.TheBlogBabe.com.