By Psychologist Honey Langcaster-James

Honey Langcaster-James

Honey Langcaster-James

Are you suffering from a ‘creativity crisis’? According to new research by art app Bloom you may well be one of the millions of women who are!

The study found that 64% of UK adults felt they were failing to live up to their full creative potential, while nearly three in four regretted not going into more creative jobs. Despite this, 85% said that being creative was an important way for them to relax and relieve stress.

Having some form of creative outlet is so important for self-expression, stress relief and overall wellbeing. Taking some time out to be creative simply for creativity’s sake can lead to greater productivity in your work, even if you’re not in a typically creative field. This is because it can help you maintain cognitive clarity and optimal wellbeing which help you in all aspects of your life. So how can you bring more creativity into your life if you feel you’re lacking creative opportunities?

Here are my top tips to do just that:

Try some child’s play

Get in touch with your inner child and try an activity you used to love when you were young, like building a model, colouring in or maybe playing a musical instrument. You’ll be amazed at how satisfying it can be to just allow yourself to play, and hopefully it will motivate you to allow yourself to be more playful in general.

Inject creativity into your work

Challenge yourself to approach work situations more creatively by doing things in a completely different way from your usual approach or breaking with your usual routine. Instead of having a brainstorm in a meeting room, get out of the office for more inspiration. Try a walking meeting where instead of sitting face to face, you’re walking and chatting at the same time. There are lots of little things you can do to bring creativity into your everyday working life.

Take up a creative hobby

If work is not giving you a chance to be creative, try being creative in your spare time with a creative hobby, whether it’s writing, cooking, drawing or photography. Try out a few things for size and find out what works best for you. You’ll probably make some new, like-minded friends in the process!

Go with the creative flow

Remind yourself that being creative is about the process of expressing yourself and not necessarily about producing something amazing, so feel free to experiment and don’t put pressure on yourself. Relax, have fun and enjoy the moment.

Start at home

You don’t need to spend lots of money or go very far to get creative - take things from around your home or garden, experiment with them and use them in whole new ways. For example, cook something up you’ve never done before, try some DIY to revive the look and feel of a room, or even try dressing in a different way.

Get appy

Use technology that’s specially designed to tap into your creative side. There are some great apps that stimulate your creativity, like the new Bloom app which is free to download from the App store and enables you to unleash your inner artist. You’ll be proud of what you create, and it’s also immersive meaning that it’s great for mindfulness and relaxation.  

Make time for creativity

Life can get so busy that it can be hard to fit more things in, but it’s important to make time for creativity. Make an appointment in your diary, set an alert and make it happen. It will double up as precious ‘me time’ and you’ll be amazed how good you will feel for doing so!

Be brave

We’re often so afraid of what people think if we do something a bit different, so getting creative is also about being brave and not being afraid to step out of the routine to try new things and different experiences and places.

I hope you find these tips useful on your path to a more creative life, good luck!