The Magic of Judgement-Free Creativity

Earlier this summer, I wrote about how I amped up my creative processes to navigate the challenges of being a live performer amidst pandemic closures. I offered five tips on how to amplify your creativity from lessons I learned during that time.

Now, as we open the fall season, a time where organizations, entrepreneurs and professionals across industries focus on year-end goals, it’s important to explore ways in which we can unleash our creativity for the most satisfying results.

One of my favorite quotes is from songwriter Johnny Mercer. He said, “Write for the wastebasket.” That’s one powerful tip!! When you brainstorm with total creative abandon, letting your mind flow freely from idea to idea without pre-judging the results, you unlock the power to ignite your best ideas of all.

Sometimes, sitting down and deciding to be intentionally creative, setting a time to devote to your own creativity works really well…and sometimes it doesn’t.?Here’s a few novel ways to spark creativity throughout the day that don’t involve sitting down and forcing ideas:

• Constantly capture your ideas as you go about your day – doing so teaches your brain that you value ideas and it will continuously give you more ideas.
• Maintain an easily portable dedicated device or notebook to capture your ideas – I have a tablet I use exclusively for recording my creative ideas. This tablet does not have apps, social media, photos or other distractions downloaded, so I stay focused on jotting down my ideas. I can easily access this tablet as I run errands, travel to shows, or even cook dinner at home.?
• Be creative while you exercise – Get out in nature and go for a walk, hike or run and let your mind take off. If you prefer indoor exercise, let your mind wander while lifting weights or using the elliptical. Don’t forget to bring along a notepad or tablet to record your brainstorms, or at least write down your ideas immediately after your workout.

Now that you know you can be effectively creative literally anywhere and not have to worry about “losing an idea” because you didn’t make a note of it, I have a few additional thoughts to enable your creative mind to run free:

• Start with the end in mind. You know what you want to achieve as your “WOAH!” moment, so let it be the starting point and work backwards. You’ll be amazed at how inspired you become.
• Sometimes it is easier to know what you don’t want versus what you want, so make two lists and start with what you don’t want – doing so ?makes it easier to identify and detail what you do want.
• ?Free-write rambling nonsense when you feel “stuck” – it’s the quickest way to get “unstuck” and your ideas will start to flow.

Finally, the most important tip of all: separate brainstorming from editing. Always go for a quantity of ideas without judging the quality of the ideas as you are brainstorming. Because our genius often lies in our subconscious, the more ideas you allow yourself to have and record, the better the opportunity to identify quality ideas that will match your creative goals. If you don’t believe me, consider this: World War I era songwriter Richard Whiting (a songwriting partner to Johnny Mercer) literally threw away his biggest hit. He wrote a popular waltz, “Till We Meet Again,” but thought it was “too sappy to become a hit.” Frustrated, at the end of his workday as a paid songwriter at Remick Publishing, he crumpled up the paper on which he had hand-written the lyrics and tossed it in the trash. A secretary found the paper and thought the lyrics were beautiful and resonating. Unbeknownst to him, Whiting’s bosses then entered the song into a contest…which it won. The song was recorded and sold five million copies, becoming one of the most popular waltzes of the era (Source: The Great American Songbook: The Stories Behind the Standards by Charles Denison).

Remember, don’t judge your ideas too early and too harshly. Let them sit a while and go back and revisit them -- you may just be surprised to find gold among all those seemingly aimless thoughts.