Creativity is not something you can just tap into at any time, but it’s also not something that’s foreign to us. To be creative, you need to practice it so this skill becomes a habit. I asked the illustrator and designer Sahil Datta to share his creative habits with me, so he can inspire us all to create more often.
Here are his creative habits:
- Practice drawing everyday
- Sketchbook with pen and ink (not pencil)
- Find your own style (this will come naturally as you practice)
- Draw what you want…and draw it how you want
- Be okay with the fact that people will criticize your work (don’t let it stop you)
- Listen to music (anything really) when you draw (it helps)
- Don’t expect perfection…or even excellence…right out of the gate
- Never stop learning…always be hungry for more knowledge/information/inspiration
- Draw every day about the same thing if possible…but don’t get stuck in a rut
- Read books, magazines, watch documentaries…anything that will help you learn/get inspired
Creative habits are the rituals and routines that get us back to work. They help get us out of bed in the morning, keep us from checking email too often, and get us writing at the times we have designated for it. We all have them, but they tend to be unique. Having a creative habits can help your concept boards creations unique to others.
Sometimes our creative habits reveal something about our personalities or help us look at the world a little differently. Other times, they’re just a way to get through the day. Here are a couple of my favorite creative habits:
I have a specific meal I eat before I write every morning, and I try to do it at exactly the same time each day so my brain gets used to it. It makes me feel productive and ready to work.
I try not to check email until I’ve done a certain amount of writing so I can keep my head in my work instead of getting distracted by new messages.
My husband is big on public commitments, so he schedules his daily goals in advance with friends or family members who hold him accountable for meeting them. He won’t be able to make dinner plans if he hasn’t met his goals for the day!
Creativity often feels like a mystical, magical force that strikes when it pleases, but it’s also a learned skill that can be developed with practice. A creative mind is a powerful tool, which you can use to better your life, your work and your relationships.
I’m going to share with you seven simple habits that have helped me become more creative. These have been very valuable to me and I hope they will help you too.
The purpose of these techniques is to help you develop a more creative mindset so you can increase your creativity output while reducing the mental barriers that often get in the way of being creative.
Experimentation:
Let’s start off with an exercise: close your eyes for a moment and think of what you do when you’re not working on anything in particular. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? That is your default behavior. It’s what happens when you’re not forcing yourself to do something else or be somewhere else.
In my case, the first thing I would think of is lying in bed on a lazy Sunday morning, scrolling through Twitter and watching YouTube videos. This is my default behavior because I spend a lot of time in bed, doing nothing or doing whatever I feel like doing at the moment.
Creativity is the act of creating something new, whether it’s a product, an idea, or an artistic endeavor. It sounds deceptively simple, but creativity is actually one of the most difficult skills to learn and master.
The more creative you are, the better your ability to solve problems, generate ideas, and think outside the box. Creativity can be measured on scales like the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, which has become the standard in academic research on creativity. The test is made up of 12 subtests that measure originality, flexibility of thought, fluency of idea production, and so on.
There are three basic types of creative thinking: Divergent Thinking is when you come up with lots of different answers to a single problem; Convergent Thinking is when you use logic to solve a problem; and Insight Thinking is when you solve problems quickly.
Creativity isn’t just about art or music or writing — it’s relevant to every single endeavor in life. If you struggle with any aspect of your job or personal life, it might be time to start applying some creative thinking strategies that will help you find solutions. Read more about creative stuff to improve your works.