Creativity Hacks for When Your Muse Is on Holiday

Whether you're an entrepreneur, freelancer or employee, maintaining inspiration and creativity is vital for your business and professional growth. Inspiring employees, creating content for clients, and problem-solving are all essential to becoming a successful entrepreneur or professional. Unfortunately, we all have days when it seems that our muse has taken a holiday. Must be nice, right? Entrepreneurs and professionals rarely get a break, so here are a few creativity hacks that help you through those tough times when the creativity just isn’t flowing.

Creativity Hacks for When Your Muse Is on Holiday

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.

- Stephen King

Bank your ideas

Make the most of the days when inspiration is in good supply and build yourself a bank of ideas. Keep a notepad (physically, or use the app on your smartphone) and write down all the ideas you can, no matter how crazy they might seem. You might find an amazing use for them later, or they could inspire you on a day when you need it. Though this might seem like overkill, trust me that the first time you get stuck and have this bank to fall back on, you’ll be incredibly thankful to your previous self.

Connect with people

Don’t isolate yourself! Go out and talk to people. When someone asks to explain what you do, or questions you along those lines, you’ll find new ways to get across old ideas. You may also get great ideas as you converse with others. Always listen carefully, and if you hear anything that sparks your interest, write it down.

Seek out people that inspire you. They can be mentors, friends you look up to, or anyone who can motivate you from any angle. They might just be the inspiration you need.

Be random

Ask yourself random questions. Imagine you’re giving an interview on the topic. You’ll soon find loopholes in your answers, which will set you on a path to find out more. This technique can be marvelously effective. You will be amazed at how ideas present themselves as you attempt to answer those questions.

The Internet is an incredible place to find random information. Look for anything related to your industry. Check out some YouTube videos. Quora is a great resource too, thanks to the random answers that people give to things. Go down the random rabbit hole of the world wide web, but be careful – going too far down could harm your productivity!

Be silly

Pop culture is a great source of silliness. Sing some songs. Watch some comedy videos. Listen to a funny podcast. Let your brain have a break and allow your creativity to run away with you. Doodle! Put on a crazy hat. Turn your coat around backwards. Do a headstand. At our company, we like to get silly on our Facebook Live broadcasts. Not only is it great for camaraderie and creativity, we also get to share our personalities with our followers!

Find inspiration

Watch a TED Talk or an old presidential debate, or seek out the amazing ideas that can be captured in scripts by paying attention to all the story-telling and conversations on TV. Whatever gets your creative juices flowing!

Visit Instagram, Pinterest or your favorite blog. Always read the comments when you read an article, wherever it may be. The comments section is a highly fertile ground for ideas! Tweet to your own followers and ask them what they would like to read about, or invite them to share their most-pressing challenges.

Read about other people’s problems and the prescribed solutions, even when it’s not related to your field. Read inspirational websites and books that spark your creativity.

Jump on trends

Browse the latest news and share your thoughts on a trending topic. Don’t be afraid to sound opinionated! Write about a trending topic, even if it’s not related to your line of work. Write about reality TV, or the latest iPhone rumors. It can really get the brain going!

Word association

Carry out word- or topic-associated exercises -- it might spark an idea or two.Stimulating random words is one powerful way of accessing your subconscious and revealing the wealth of ideas contained within it. Continuously practicing this kind of association will enhance your thinking skills by strengthening your connection with your subconscious and improving your creativity.

Use online tools

Try using content creation tools like Buzzsumo, Brainsparker, Hubspot, etc. They can provide you with ready-made content ideas. Sometimes, all you need to regain some creative momentum is a dose of inspiration. With these ideas and topics you can easily know where to start.

Take a break

When nothing works, give yourself a break.Take a walk. Spend some time in your favorite coffee shop. If you can, maybe take a day or two off.Taking some days off might really be what you need after all. Burnout is a real danger, and at the end of the day, you must take care of yourself. Your business depends on it!

How do you handle those tough days when you feel like you have no inspiration? Have you tried any of the creativity hacks here? We’d love to hear your story!