How to keep creativity levels high

Creativity comes in waves. You won't always be at high tide when you want to make something.

It's frustrating when you want to work on a project and this realization hits you.

That's why in this post I'll be sharing 10 tips on how to minimize the wave and stay prepared.

1. Start a mood board.

Mood boards, whether digital or physical, can create the foundation of a great project. Some things to save may include colors, objects, places, aesthetics, or a combination of multiple things.

Though it may sound strange to some, it helps to gather your thoughts outside of your mind when you want to make something.

2. Listen to music or build a playlist.

Music can help to visualize things or form more ideas for something. If you assign a song to a project, story, character, or something similar, it helps to keep you moving. It may not even be something related. Maybe you listen to classical or piano music to get working. It's totally up to you.

3. Practice if you can.

If your project is something that can be practiced in smaller segments, try it out! Artists can make sketches, and writers can write short stories. Practicing a talent shouldn't take too long, and it doesn't need to be perfect.

Practice will make that talent come more naturally when you need it. This is helpful because it means you'll be better prepared for an opportunity to use or share this talent when the time comes.

4. Accept feedback.

Every creative person knows that when you present your work to someone, you have to brace for criticism. While this is true, I and many others often struggle with this.

However, anyone you speak to would encourage this feedback and say it should be welcomed and accepted. So, I'll reiterate. It can be really difficult, and I as a young writer would certainly know that. It's extremely important to remember that criticism is about your work, not you. Accepting this mindset will help you learn to work in new ways.

5. Leave it alone for a while if you can.

If you are working on something that is not time-sensitive, leaving it alone for a while could benefit you greatly. This can be applied to several creative works.

For example, if you write a short story, it may seem perfect as you jot down the last sentences. This is where the waiting comes in. If you wait a day, then you will have a few things to fix and correct. However, if you wait a few days with no peeking, you'll read it with a new lens and understand what needs to be fixed.

This will keep creativity levels high since it means you don't have to hound yourself to pump out more work as fast as possible. Taking the time to step away from your work is a great step for someone who makes creative work in one way or another.

6. Accept imperfection.

This is, reasonably, a difficult battle with artistic people. Of course, you want your work to be sparkling, and absolutely flawless. It can be hard to accept that your work will never really be perfect.

Even if you do think you've achieved perfection, you could look back on something you deemed perfect and think "I thought that was perfect?"

That has happened to me. It's normal. But the moral is that if you wait for your work to be perfect, you'll be so stressed over it that you'll never make anything at all. To stay creative, you have to push past inner judgment and just let your work do what it needs to do.

7. Realize a concept is not the same as a finished piece.

It is very easy to discover that concepts and finished work will never be the same. The first time you discover this may be disappointing.

Even then, an important thing to remember is that even if your finished product doesn't seem as good as your concept, it's best to push through that. This kind of expectation is similar to perfection as mentioned previously. So, if you accept concepts as concepts and finished work as finished work, then you will discover increased creativity.

8. Speak to people that share your talent.

Speaking to people with your talent will help a lot with creativity. Asking for advice will help you to sympathize and help improve your work. Socializing with people who work similarly to you will help you not only with creativity but with the overall quality of your work.

9. Take proper breaks.

It's an absolute necessity to realize that you don't need to work 24/7. You should not be expected to always feel inspired. There will be moments where you just draw a blank.

Taking time away from your work can help make it better. If you're cramming work when you don't want to create it, it won't be as good as when you get a spark of inspiration and work off of that. I'm not saying take half a year without making anything, but a few weeks or months without pushing yourself can be beneficial.

10. Make yourself inspired.

With the help of the internet, it can be shockingly easy to make yourself inspired, even when you're not feeling it.

If you haven't made anything in a while and you want to push yourself, there are several things to work with that could push creativity. Things like songs, art, mood boards, products, and more. Utilizing these as tools will help you to work towards whatever creative goal you set for yourself.

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