Routine stunts your creativity.
All too often in your creative life you will find yourself stuck. You’ll be beating your brains out trying to think of something different but despite your best efforts nothing is happening. Inspiration will not strike.
Well, there’s nothing unusual about this situation, so don’t panic. I’ve found there’s one simple trick you can use that will get you out of any creative rut:
Swap seats.
Human beings are creatures of habit and so much of what we do is programmed into us over time without our ever stopping to question it. Now, to a certain extent, a daily routine is essential. But if your job is to come up with new ideas – really fresh ones that capture our attention – it will pay to change your routine.
Say you’re working in advertising. Think about how much of your and the team’s behavior is governed by daily routine. You all come in each morning as usual, sit in your usual spots, and drink your usual cups of coffee – then you try and come up with an unusual idea.
If each day is business as usual how can you possibly create something unusual?
Here’s an easy first step to break the monotony: Switch desks with a colleague. Suddenly, even though you’ve only moved a few feet away, your perspective will have changed and your brain will be looking at everything from a different angle. And looking at things differently jogs the imagination into action.
If you want to take it a step further, change cities or even better continents (but only to a place with bad weather; see page 86). It’s amazing what a plane ticket can do for your creativity. When I went to work in New York for two years, it was one of the most stimulating periods of my career.
Remember: Great work cannot be original, it can only be fresh and the first step to creating fresh work can be as simple as sitting somewhere different. Then, at the least, you’ll have a fresh perspective.