Creativity & the Creative Environment

Creativity and the Creative Environment ?

Successful creative thinking and finding inspiration need a great creative environment.?

There are two environments that both need to work together for your creativity to flourish.?

?1 - YOUR INTERNAL CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT.?

Mindspace. You can position and imagine yourself in a more creative mind space. One straightforward way of doing this is to consciously think about someone you think is really creative. Then imagine what they would be doing or thinking or what would they say about the issue you are addressing.

This has a?substantial impact on your thinking and mental positioning. It instantly reframes your thinking into a more creative space.?

Suppress the conscious. Distract your busy conscious mind. Your conscious mind can block creative thoughts from coming to the surface. This is the difference between wanting and allowing yourself to be creative. The conscious mind naturally values safety, logic and sensible, which are great for getting us through life. ?

But creativity needs another type of thinking - This is why people go for a jog, sleep on it, listen to music or take a shower as it gives you the head space to think creatively or find that bit of inspiration you are looking to unearth.?

Release the subconscious. I think I read somewhere that Dali used to hold a spoon when he was falling asleep, so when it dropped, he would wake up and capture what was in his mind in the space between waking and sleeping. Let the subconscious mind find the creative inspiration and solutions you need to discover by suppressing/distracting the conscious or finding a more meditative place to access the subconscious.?

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2 - YOUR EXTERNAL CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT.?

Team or Solo? I propose that creative and inspirational thinking is primarily a solo activity. Brainstorming, collaborations and team creative sessions can work, but I believe that the output is usually less than the same number of people all ‘doing it’ individually.

This might just be me, but in a team setting, I’ll produce 3 or 4 ideas, but on my own new 20 ideas are easily achievable. I think it is because I’m responsible and accountable for my creative output to a greater extent than when I’m in a team setting. ?

Space and physical location. It is true, that inspiring places can inspire. Find your own creative space be it, inside, outside, in the mountains or within an activity. Instinctively you will know what works best for you.

When you find it value it and go there repeatedly until it becomes your personal creative habit space. I have three places – the car, the train and walking the dogs. They all involve movement, unfortunately, I’m not as creative sitting in a meeting room.?

?Clutter. I like a clean clear desk or space. I like a clean sheet of paper or a blank Word doc. I like the open sky of East Anglia and an empty footpath ahead. These physical blank canvases give me the mental permission to think freely, start from scratch and give me the space to fill my mind with new thinking.?

The above are some of my thoughts on providing myself with the best space to be creative, yours may be similar or different. Importantly, if you find it hard to be creative, remember it might not be you, but the environment in which you are doing it – get that right and it will help.