29 Ways to Stay Creative

by Kristi Hines on June 13, 2011 · 45 comments · Blogging

Over the weekend, I found this video and thought it was a perfect fit for bloggers who need to keep the inspiration flowing for their writing.

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU

I do everything in this list but drink coffee and sing in the shower. I sing in the car instead.

My suggestion would be to print this out and put it near your computer, carry it around in your notebook, or add it to your computer’s wallpaper. Then, when you feel that bug of writer’s block, you can refer to this for some creative refreshment.

Credits to Life on Michigan Ave for the inspiration.

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{ 44 comments }

Kola June 13, 2011 at 10:48 am

love this! thanks so much for sharing

Christy from Frugalful.com June 13, 2011 at 11:17 am

I love this too. I’m always searching for inspiration for writing and this list definitely helps!
Christy@Frugalful.com recently posted..{DIY Beauty} Your Own Spa Treatment From Your Kitchen

TrafficColeman June 13, 2011 at 11:27 am

These are some great motivating processes that will spark anyone conference. The take a break one is so important.

“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
TrafficColeman recently posted..Backlink Profit Monster Dominates The Competition

Alex from make money with amazon June 13, 2011 at 11:59 am

WOW, I really enjoyed that. I think that you inadvertently gave us 30 ways. ie 30: Watch this video

Thanks for sharing Kristi
Alex@make money with amazon recently posted..3 Linkbuilding Tips to Help Move a Stubborn Niche Site onto Page 1.

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:29 am: You’re welcome Alex!

Amanda June 13, 2011 at 12:07 pm

Great ideas. Drink coffee is a definite!
Amanda recently posted..Romantic love: good or dehumanising?

Rana from Small Business Tips June 13, 2011 at 12:12 pm

All are the Golden rules.

If you are a blogger rule # 2 is absolutely vital.
Rana @ Small Business Tips recently posted..Small Business tips: Why Small Businesses Need Online Presence

Kevin Kimes from Online Business Lifestyle Twitter: kevin_kimes June 13, 2011 at 7:47 pm

I’ve noticed most creative/artist types that I’ve known do this, even when they’re young. Except photographers, at least not that I’ve noticed.

Fortunately, every smart phone can take notes these days, so I always have a notepad.

Number 2 and number 26 are actually the same thing. I suppose the author was merely adhering to number 21 by including it twice this way.
Kevin Kimes @ Online Business Lifestyle recently posted..My Strongest Backlink

David Walker from Make Money Online Twitter: davidwalkertv November 4, 2011 at 1:15 pm: Exactly! You don’t have to be a blogger to benefit from this. You don’t even have to be doing it for creative things (writing, song writing, etc…). It can be really interesting just to go back through your notepad and remember what that day was like. Personally, I love number 18 — we too often overlook the little things in the search for bigger ones. ~David Walker
David Walker@Make Money Online recently posted..Why People Don’t Like “Free”

Marbella June 13, 2011 at 12:50 pm

Hi Kristi,
Lovely list; my 2 favorite is 14 and 20, that’s way I’m a survivor and always landing on my feets.

John Knights from Business Loans June 13, 2011 at 12:52 pm

Wow.. You know what, I’m lacking all of those. If ever I can do all of those during my work. I would be the happiest person working at home. well maybe!

This is not just being creative. I think this is a great list of must must do things for all of us.

Onibalusi Bamidele June 13, 2011 at 1:27 pm

What an awesome video and something to bookmark! I really love this list and I’ll be checking and implementing it on a daily basis.

BTW I also love the new changes you’ve made to the blog and I think they’re doing a great job of bringing to the spotlight some things that aren’t that obvious before

Thanks so much for the great post!

-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele recently posted..3 Realizations that Will Change Your Online Business Forever

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:29 am: Thanks Onibalusi! I had one of my few designing moods over the weekend and used Mashable as inspiration for the follow box, plus added some new banners for my eBook. I was quite proud of myself!

Extreme John from CEO Business Blog Twitter: ExtremeJohn June 13, 2011 at 1:29 pm

Another awesome, awesome contribution and put together very well Kristi. As top notch as one would expect from you at this point, I’ll be doing the full monty with this post. Thanks for the time an effort you must have put in to this post, I can only imagine.
Extreme John @ CEO Business Blog recently posted..24 Tools I Used to Build a Viral Marketing Campaign on Facebook P2

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:27 am: You’re welcome John.

Stephen June 13, 2011 at 1:30 pm

That’s a great list! It’s now my desktop wallpaper and it will probably stay there for a while. I have to practice points 4 and 6 more often.

I like to sing in the car too!
Stephen recently posted..Facebook status overload and personal page meltdown

Ryan Critchett Twitter: rmctech June 13, 2011 at 1:54 pm

Great vid, great suggestions. I love “don’t force it.” It seems great ideas are rarely forced. We probably unconsciously AHA! ourselves the heck out a great deal.
Ryan Critchett recently posted..Social Media Talk (And Some Strategy For Small Businesses)

Kim Butler June 13, 2011 at 2:36 pm

Fabulous! Truly fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing Kristi. I’d say this could be 29 ways to be happier, to live better, etc. This is not a list for just staying creative.
Kim Butler recently posted..Can You Sell Your House Using Online Real Estate Marketing?

Michael Aulia from CravingTech.com Twitter: michaelaulia June 13, 2011 at 8:02 pm

Love the counts your blessing and stay around other creative people Especially true when you are living with a bunch of whiners, you’ll find that you whine a lot too. Which is why I always choose to be around passionate, highly spirited people!
Michael Aulia @CravingTech.com recently posted..Nuffnang Blogopolis Conference 2011, here I come!

Sire from Buy Online Lotto Tickets Twitter: AussieSire June 13, 2011 at 8:10 pm

I’m not exactly what you would call a creative person but I don’t really have a problem writing posts, perhaps they’re not what you would call creative works?

There are times though when some of my posts, usually it’s either a poem or a short story or something, are sort of creative but these were not forced, they were just ready to be born. Sure as heck didn’t waste my time reading a page in the dictionary.
Sire@Buy Online Lotto Tickets recently posted..What Is Responsible Gambling?

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:25 am: Sometimes I think bloggers need a little creativity when it comes to figuring up new ideas for posts that others haven’t yet covered Sire, or to cover things in a different way.

Tom Twitter: handytc June 13, 2011 at 9:37 pm

Kristi,
Very creative video. Very nice. I especially like #2. I always think of new ideas when I’m away from my computer.
Tom recently posted..The Reading Challenge

enursa June 14, 2011 at 12:44 am

Have fun is the most important. You always have fresh idea if you have fresh mind.
enursa recently posted..27 Creative Works Taken from Pencil and Camera

Ray from dolphin tutorials June 14, 2011 at 1:05 am

Nice list. I’m not sure how number 8 drink coffee would help me stay creative. I would put have to put it at number 1 just to get the day going though. I do really need to do number 27 clean my workspace, talk about a mess and clutter.
Ray@dolphin tutorials recently posted..How much time do you spend working on your website

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:24 am: Clutter is the ultimate killer of creativity in my book Ray. The more open my room and desk, the more room I feel I have to breathe and create!

Ajay Chavda June 14, 2011 at 2:26 am

Its a great list. Thank you.

I think what this list did forget was
# Pursue excellence and not success.

Creative people often are deprived of their creativity when money is a driving factor. Imagine an artist at a web design company specifically instructed to create a blocked, blue colour 16 grid layout with predefined boxes. Your creativity goes down the drain.

When driven by excellence , artists often discard criticism to create a masterpiece. When driven by success , artists often abandon creativity for a sub standard product.

Nonetheless a great list. Some time well spent reading this through.
Ajay Chavda recently posted..Nine Simple Things Successful Bloggers Do Differently !

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:23 am: Good point Ajay!

Anna June 14, 2011 at 3:00 am

I have already printed it out and put it on the wall in front of my eyes – and I highlighted points #4, 6,14,16,18,28,29.
They are my best!

Christian Hollingsworth Twitter: smartboydesigns June 14, 2011 at 3:12 am

Loving the bit about reading a page in the dictionary. That would help me in many ways for Scrabble, which I play often against my grandmother.

My new favorite Scrabble word: Zax. It’s a hatchet like tool. If you place that little sucker on a triple word spot – you’d be raking in mega-points.
Christian Hollingsworth recently posted..Why do you comment on blogs?

Kristi Twitter: kikolani June 14, 2011 at 10:23 am: Nice Christian, I’ll have to try that the next time I play my hubby!

Mia June 14, 2011 at 5:34 am

That’s a good set of rules, but I’ll definitely start by cleaning my desk

Codrut Turcanu from SEMRush June 14, 2011 at 7:09 am

Hey, 99% of the people I know do sing in the shower, but they’re enemy with creativity
Codrut Turcanu @ SEMRush recently posted..Offline Investing Tips with Gabe Young Blogger @ FreeBlogHelp.com

Andrew Walker June 14, 2011 at 9:19 am

Kristi,

Lol! I’m going to try singing in the shower then since that’s the only thing that I’ven’t done on your list!
Andrew Walker recently posted..Etihad Coupons

Annie from kitchen remodel blog June 14, 2011 at 5:26 pm

Great post Kristi. I have found that taking a walk and clearing my head works wonders for creativity. But my biggest tip would be to stop watching tv. I think it zaps your energy levels as well. When all else fails I just step away from my computer. I spend way too much time on this thing
Annie@kitchen remodel blog recently posted..how to sell a home fast

dan June 15, 2011 at 6:27 am

I also believe in how effective taking down notes is for productivity and creativity. Having your notes nearby will allow you to capture all those good ideas that we tend to forget if we just rely on our brains. Also, you get to form new connections between stuff when reviewing your notes.

On a related note, a friend recommended this software to me over the weekend and I think some of you might be interested in this: http://www.thebrain.com/

For me, it’s the best mind map, visualization, and notes / personal organizer tool i’ve ever used. I think this can also be used in other ways such as for project management. There’s a free and paid versions, and you get to try all the features for 30 days.

I’m still in the 30-day trial so im not really sure what the difference is between free and the paid versions – but my friend says the free version is still functional after the 30day trial.
dan recently posted..What Will An IT Consultant Do For My Company?

Kim from themafeestjes June 15, 2011 at 5:47 pm

This is great! I actually may print it and hang it on the wall in front of me! I just cleaned and rearranged my workspace today and I worked so much better after it! I also do a lot of other things. Thanks so much for this inspirational post!
Kim@themafeestjes recently posted..Interview : Prinses Jasmine

Rajka from ExpatDoctorMom June 16, 2011 at 12:44 am

Thanks for the list! I also sing in the car not shower!

I would add, put on Bose noise cancelling headphones and listen to whatever music inspires me that day!

cheers,
Rajka
Rajka@ExpatDoctorMom recently posted..The Dangers Of Sunscreen. How To Buy The Safest Sunscreen For You And Your Family?

Sylvia June 16, 2011 at 7:42 am

Nice post! Drinking coffee and stepping away from the computer are definitely great tips. I would also like to suggest reading poetry; sometimes reading a different type of writing can get the juices flowing.

-Sylvia

Andrew from Blogging Guide Twitter: andrewrondeau June 21, 2011 at 4:12 am

Wow! I am totally renewed by your list. I didn’t know staying creative only takes 29 ways. Very nice, I am inspired as always.
Andrew @ Blogging Guide recently posted..Escaping The 9-5: Do You Miss This?

Darlene June 24, 2011 at 8:46 am

These are great ideas, Kristi! Such a practical and succinct list – Might just print it off for inspiration. Thanks for putting this together!
Darlene recently posted..How to Set Up a Twitter Account

Glen from Offshore Decommissioning June 27, 2011 at 11:02 pm

Thanks for this wonderful list Kristi. I don’t know but every time to I take a shower I feel like I’m having an idea overload and I feel like writing it all down. Weird stuff No. 12 & 17 are what I often do when I get stuck.

Satrap from Make Money Online Twitter: blogstashdotcom October 8, 2011 at 4:35 pm

Great list, thanks for sharing the link Kristy.

I find it very helpful to carry a notebook with me all the time and also I make lists every few days or so. Not only it helps with creativity but it also increases your productivity level.
Satrap@ Make Money Online recently posted..10 Best Ways to Make Extra Money Online in Your Spare Time

Darren from Cloud Hosting Blog Twitter: MostDarren October 14, 2011 at 10:08 am

I need to implement these ideas quickly! I’ve been running out of idea on what to blog about, so this should help.
Darren@Cloud Hosting Blog recently posted..Social Media Sites Present Security Risks To Businesses Of All Sizes

Noel Addison from Web Development Ventura Twitter: addisonskanks October 27, 2011 at 4:13 am