Creativity

Have you ever created anything? Written a poem or a novel? Can you play an instrument or write music or draw? Have you created a solution to a problem that you encountered in your life? Or do you wish to be able to do so? Creativity is within us all if we want to be creative.

What is creativity?

Creativity is how we use our imagination or thoughts to create something that speaks to others. It is not easy to define, and can include anything from an art piece to creatively solving a problem.

How to be creative

We are all creative within ourselves. But many of us think that creativity is about creating musical masterpieces or writing a book and feel that we are not creative. This is not true. Creativity is also the act of creating a solution to some existing problem. You can help bring out your creativity by being confident, observing the world and asking questions about it, and being humble enough to learn from others and to accept that we don’t know everything and aren’t good at everything.

Being curious and resourceful in your answers to your own questions will help you innovate and create. It is fun to work with what you have to solve problems you see. Be active and energetic in your response to what you see and you will soon find that you are creating many things that you can be proud of. Also, you can’t be creative if you won’t act on your imagination. Creativity and innovation are not the same thing but they go hand in hand. With an innovation, you are implementing something new whereas creativity is our ability to imagine something new or unusual.

Elements of creativity

• To increase your creativity levels, first start with a brainstorming session. Think deeply about what it is that you want to create. This will help you generate some new ideas about how to create something.
• Ask some questions to generate new ideas. You could start with the question every good journalist asks. Who? What? When? Where? How? Why? These should help jog your brain a bit.
• If you are looking to create a piece of literature or music, you can try to set aside a time of the day where you will be creative and work on your piece. This will especially help if you are finding that you are facing “writer’s block.”
• Whether you want an artistic piece or a business solution, remember to block out any distractions. This will help you concentrate deeply.
• Don’t get stuck in indecisiveness and fear. You should focus on achieving your goal rather than worrying about the ‘what if’s. Create what you can without any fear.
• Once you have created something, see if it can be improved. We can all use some editing and improving. Be brutal with your own work and see where there are gaps so that you can address them.
• In a business or office setting especially, task lists and checklists can help save the day. It is so easy to forget small things when rushing around with our work, but if we keep ourselves organized, it becomes possible to finish everything in the available time.
• Remember to use any available technology and resources to make your work better. If there are apps that can help you or friends that can guide you, you should turn to them.

Creativity is not only for artists. It is for all of us. It is crucial in our everyday life because we are faced with many instances where we need to be creative to deal with what happens. That is also why it is highly useful in business situations.