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Light your creative spark

It can feel impossible to have a coherent thought when you are feeling a bit ‘blah’ let alone a shiny, creative idea – but it is possible. Especially if you just say “YES” and plough ahead into creativity without a second thought, YESvember style.

You might find that the simple act of being creative and occupying your mind makes you feel less ‘blah’ and sends you in an upwards spiral towards positivity and – you guessed it – even more creativity!

Here are some ways to light the spark of creativity when you are working from home, feeling under the weather or just a bit glum..

 

Feed your mind

If you can, get to a new exhibition or if you are isolating or just too darn chilly, find inspiration content online – but look beyond what you know and love, try something new. Jean Marc Moncorger, author of Créativité – Un Nouveau Regard? (Creativity – A New Look) says:

“To move from a ‘normal’ state to a creative state, you have to add ‘elements’. In order to create a chemical reaction, you have to mix things together. It’s the same with creativity! Creativity doesn’t magically descend from the sky.”

He’s right, it doesn’t. 

 

Play

Your mind relaxes and has space to rewire itself and grow when you play. Maybe that’s why kids do so much of it. Or maybe they just do it because it’s FUN. If you have kids, join in with them, build a pillow fort, have a kick about in the garden and be silly for a while. If you are child free, play with yourself! By this we mean allow your mind to wander, take time out from your routine to imagine or dance around your living room. Draw the minutiae of your day, make up a story about one of your neighbours in your head or put yourself in the shoes of a movie character and imagine what you would do differently. 

 

Connect with nature

Getting out and about is not just good exercise, it helps your mind feel happier and more creative. A psychological study that looked at the impact of nature on creativity found that spending quality time outside improves people’s creative potential. Fifty-six people who went on a hiking trip took an assessment that measured creative potential using word associations. Twenty-four took the test before they began the trip, and the other 32 took it on the fourth day. Those in the latter group performed much better.

Researchers ultimately found that spending time in nature improved creativity test scores by 50 percent. Off you go – have fun and be home before dark.

 

Be bored

Being bored makes you less boring, ironically. Think of those rainy days when you and your friends or siblings were stuck indoors and you made up the wackiest games. Instead of stuffing your mind with endless box sets, switch off and allow your brain to provide the entertainment. Even better, team up with a friend – preferable a creative one – and be bored together. You may write the next ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, invent a new recipe or simply flex your brains in a different way.

 

Challenge yourself

Completing a challenge, whether it is climbing a mountain or simply getting out of bed makes us feel good about ourselves. If you are struggling to find creative motivation, set yourself a weekly creative challenge to push you into action. Maybe take photos of something ‘red’ or ‘round’ all week, complete a jigsaw puzzle or write a blog post. Reward yourself with the glow of accomplishment and maybe some chocolate.

 

Whack on our YESvember playlist to get you started and watch this TED Talk about saying YES to keep you going.

Enjoy!

Learn how to ignite your creative spark in the Academy masterclass…

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Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

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Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

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Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

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DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

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Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

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Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

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Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

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Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

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Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

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Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

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Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

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Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

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Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

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Gavin Buckle — B&Q
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