Looking For Creative Inspiration – How To Find It!

Have you ever sat in front of the screen and thought “I’ve got 2 hours to come up with the content here, why can’t I think of anything?”

Or

“I only need to think of the name for this and I can crack on, why won’t my brain work!”

Or

“Aaaaa I haven’t got a single good idea in my head!”

If you have faced any of these scenarios you will know how frustrating it is. You’ve made some space in your mega busy diary to get creative and move your business forward but your brain won’t help and before you know it you’ve commented on someone’s Facebook video of a cute dog. That won’t grow your business will it?

But you know that right? And so you end up getting more and more frustrated, staring at the minutes wasted away and worry some more. So how can you overcome writers block and come up with the great ideas, (as if you had me there with you helping you get the results you want?)

1. Stop panicking and looking at the clock and worrying about how much time you’ve wasted. It makes you worry more. It clags up your busy brain with negative emotions which further shut down your brain to be able to think productively. If you have been at it for more than 10 minutes and achieved nothing, walk away from the location you are in for 10 minutes. Do some filing (you know you never get round to it!) phone that person you were going to just email, check your to do list for the day/week. Get your brain concentrating on something else, and let it do that for at least 10 minutes. Studies show that working on something else creates mental space. Basically your brain is shouting “I know you need the answers, give me 10 minutes and I will keep hunting okay!” Have you ever struggled to remember someone’s name only for it to come to you in the middle of the night or randomly when you are doing something else? Your brain doesn’t stop looking for the answers you want, but it does need the time to process the request.
2. Grab a pen and paper (this is ideal for the way it makes your brain work) and list every possible solution you have already come up with. They can be the obvious ones that you have dismissed, the stupid ones, the unrealistic ones, the unaffordable ones. Write them all down. If you have 2 pages of A4 paper filled then you are letting your mind think freely. It’s highly likely the first 30 or so that you come up with you will dismiss but the longer you write the more likely you are to come up with parts of the solution or even the actual solutions.
3. Don’t dismiss anything, write it all down.
4. Not one for lists? Draw a picture, use a mind map, cut pictures out of a magazine and create a mood board. Allow your creative juices to flow in a way that works for you, but keep it visual.
5. Ask others. Friends and relatives are not the best people to ask for ideas from. They love and adore you and have their own agenda and viewpoint already. As I always say your Nan loves you so whatever you come up with she will say “That’s nice darling.” So ask yourself who would be good to ask? Get along to a network like The Business Womans Network. Share your thoughts on social media groups where you feel you will get useful feedback. Create a focus group – that’s basically a neutral place where you invite some people along to share their views. I tend to give a free half hour session to say thank you, make sure there are goodies in the middle of the room and lots of beverages!
6. Check out people you admire, who do you idolise in business? Who would you like to be more like? What would they say to you if they were in the room? What would you expect them to come up with for their own business?
7. Research online, don’t steal other people’s ideas and creativity however it’s a great way to see what other people do and to helps you understand your creative needs.
8. What worked in the past? This won’t be the first time you have felt stuck. What helped in the past? How could you recreate that environment to get the results you want?

It’s commendable to sit at your desk for hours looking to get your business where you want to. But with some things in life it’s better to lean on others and find experts to help you get where you want to go. Just because you know what your dentist is doing you wouldn’t start sticking appliances in your mouth and doing it yourself would you?

Sometimes it’s a good idea to outsource what is really challenging you. If you are finding its consuming your precious time, it’s time to ask yourself how can I get the results I need faster? But if out sourcing means you are allowing it to remain an obstacle to your success for future occasions, learning the skills so that you have them for good could be the solution.

Business will always create hurdles and obstacles, as a business owner you need to know the best solution, fast!

I look forward to hearing how this blog article helps you.

@MandieHolgate