3 Ways To Be More Creative At Work

BUSINESS

This month: we’ve been thinking about creativity at work. Specifically, how creativity can lead to more productivity, happiness, better problem solving and good stuff all round. But how do you become more creative?

Here are three tips:

1) Work at unexpected times
A study found that you’re more likely to solve creative challenges when you’re least alert. So if you’re a night owl, try tackling your creative blocks over morning coffee. And vice versa. We often assume creativity requires us to be on full alert. When in reality, solving creative challenges is more effective when you’re not at peak focus.

2) Become an explorer of ideas
The more we explore beyond our expertise, the more innovative we get. So if you’re a CEO, try learning to code; if you’re a Production Manager, try writing poems. When Google employees got to spend one a day a week on side projects, it led to some of the company’s most successful products. ‘Nuff said, right?

3) Make creativity a daily practice
Best-selling author, James Altucher, writes 10+ new ideas every morning. The way to have good ideas, he says, is like weightlifting. “When you lift slightly more than you can handle, you get stronger.” The ideas don’t have to be good, of course – you just have to keep buffing up your idea muscle.

Hopefully you’ve found a few new ways to swirl creativity into your working day, and gained some tools to make you more productive, happier and a better problem-solver.

Got any creativity tips of your own? We’d love to hear them.

PRINT 101

What is a halftone?

A halftone is a reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery using dots, varying in size and spacing. Color printing is made possible by repeating the halftone process for each color – called CMYK (Cyan / Magenta / Yellow / Black). Each of them has a precise position and angle to ensure it does not overlay. Basically, color printing is an optical illusion.

INSPIRATION

Podcast : Our pick of the month

How Companies Get Creativity Right (and Wrong)

Beth Comstock, the first female vice chair at General Electric, thinks companies large and small often approach innovation the wrong way. She’s the author of the book “Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change.”