Action Steps:

1. Go to Museums

Even if you’re not interested in creating visual art, the experience of looking at art can be a powerful spur to creativity. Creativity often requires a novel approach to a problem. Frequently, the ideas that we hold in the forefront of our minds prevent us from seeing new angles, which stymies our creativity. The amazing thing about art is that it speaks to us at a level beneath the conscious mind. What is art if not a form of representation that bypasses conscious thinking and immerses us in a perspective or experience that we wouldn'tt otherwise have access to?

2. Get Creative on the Fly

Nietzsche wrote that we should trust no thought that occurs to us while sitting down. He did most of his thinking while walking in the mountains, and came up with some amazing ideas that changed the course of Western thought. Clearly the guy was on to something. Being in the same environment day after day can be terribly unstimulating, and your creative mind can begin to shut down. Taking a walk can help you break out of the rut you may have fallen into sitting in front of paper, canvas, or screen. In addition, when you’re out moving your heart rate speeds up, your adrenal glands release cortisol and epinephrine, and your liver and muscles tap into carbohydrate and fat stores. All of this translates into more energy. Your body mobilizes this energy to fuel your muscles through your walk, but your brain responds to these chemical signals as well. A brisk walk can be a great way to kick a sluggish brain into gear.

3. Keep a Dream Journal

If you are an artist or creative writer, dreams can be a great source of inspiration. Our brains are at their most unorthodox when we dream, and we frequently end up producing images and making associations that would never occur to us while awake. The cool thing about keeping a dream journal is that after you do it for a while, you’ll find that you start to naturally remember more and more of your dreams on waking. The habit of recalling them and committing them to paper gets entrenched.