Find Your Creative Flow
The guide to being your creative best
You need idea, but just can’t think of anything. So you go in search of inspiration. You save some stuff, and yet it still feels like a struggle. Ideas feel forced and nothing really lights you up.
Creative thinking doesn’t come from, an endless filling up. It comes from emptying.
Boredom is the key to creativity.
When stuck with nothing but your own thoughts your brain has breathing room to think, bring things together, create and ideate. However it’s not as easy as saying.. just turn off the devices and get bored and the ideas will magically flow to you.
You need to find your creative flow state. Discover what works best for you and really tap into that.
I have actually seen a number of articles on this topic recently. However they all focus on the need for boredom to active the create part of the brain (which is very important for creatives) and ways to allow for space and boredom, but not on finding what works for you.
Finding your own Creative Flow
Our brain is like a computer and has different modes, however it also comes in different brands and builds i.e your personality and lifestyle.
So in order to enter what is called ‘Default Mode Network’ which is your brains ‘create’ mode, you need to turn off input mode. Your brain can’t focus on creating when new information and input are coming in. This means being bored, operating on autopilot and doing only the mundane tasks that your body can do without even thinking about it.
However to really optimise and get your best creative flow going, it isn’t by trying to get bored as much as possible and throwing your phone away, it by uncovering the factors that combined put you in the greatest creative flow state so you can be more intentional about have creative thinking times as part of your routine.
When my oldest kids were little, my prime time was going for a walk. They were quiet in the pram, I was out in nature and fresh air, no devices, no input. Just a nice quite and often long walk (like 40 minutes). Why this worked? It combined quiet, not worry about the kids, fresh air, nature and time. I was energised, had no distractions or worries and could simply think.
Right now I have a toddler, and my days are quite busy and noisy. Nap time is usually work time for me, and walks usually involve chats with my older sons. So where do I find that thinking moment? When I am putting my toddler to bed. Dark room, quiet, no distractions and he takes a while to drift off allowing time. I have noticed this time is when I get my best ideas.
Boredom is a skill I have cultivated over many years. I would work on get stuck in mind to pass time when stuck waiting for public transport, sitting in a car with nothing on and a long trip ahead or working at a shop on a quiet day with few customers.
I recently told my boys ‘you have a whole super computer inside your head’. I think we forget that. It can make up stories, play games, imagine and create anything you want in your mind.
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