01

Mar

5 Ways to Jump-Start Creativity

Unlike other skills — such as organization or logical thinking — creativity comes and goes. Sometimes, you’re brain seems to be firing off one great idea after another. Other times, however, you’re stuck.

This may be the reality, but there’s lots you can do to enhance and grow your creativity — and even eliminate the “ruts.” All jobs require creative thinking and writing, from marketing tasks to entrepreneurial strategies, to coming up with dynamic and fresh ways to present information.

With a few simple strategies, you can get your creative juices flowing:

1. Benchmark new sources.

When benchmarking a current or upcoming project, try to find new and interesting sources. Instead of looking at similar projects, businesses or companies that correspond well to yours, challenge yourself to research many projects that differ greatly.

For example, if you’re examining creative ways to improve your business-to-business internet marketing campaign, look at business-to-business examples in highly different companies, business-to-consumer examples, and examples in the military, non-profit and higher education sectors. You may be surprised to find useful techniques when benchmarking these sources.

2. Follow interesting people in your field (and a few who aren’t).

When you follow people with creative perspectives on your work — through their books, blogs and twitter feeds — you benefit from a consistent stream of new ideas. Follow people who are outside your field to stretch your mind and challenge yourself to think about different issues.

3. Arrange informal meetings with creative people.

We all know (and admire) creative people. Nurture your relationships with them by asking for their valuable input on your current projects. Ask someone creative out to lunch to discuss their projects, new strategies and bounce ideas off one another. Collaboration, in any form, breeds creativity.

4. Vary your tasks as much as possible.

Don’t allow yourself to act or think monotonously. Instead, vary tasks as much as possible. When you find yourself becoming “stuck” on one project or tasks, switch to a different one. This will help you stay mentally active and more open to new ideas.

5. Clear your head.

Take the time to step back from your projects to exercise, socialize or learn about something entirely new. This is one of the best ways to refresh creative thinking.

Some people find that more frequent, shorter breaks help jump-start their creativity. I’m one of those people, so the pomodoro technique — where one works for 25 minutes, then takes a 5 minute break — works very well for me. Others prefer to work continuously for a longer period of time and take fewer, longer breaks. No matter what you prefer, try to set a time or use software that reminds you to take regular breaks and clear your head.

How about you? Do you have any other tips for getting out of a creative rut? Are there other ways to enhance your creativity?

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87 days ago Short URL Comments

Writing

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08

Feb

5 ways to Write Faster

Italiano: Autore: Francesco Cirillo rilasciata...

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re like most business writers, you enjoy writing. You probably don’t enjoy feeling rushed or under pressure to finish a project. The thought that you missed the opportunity to create a stellar project, just because you needed a few more hours to work on it, can be disheartening.

Writing faster at work is a huge advantage. Some people naturally write faster than others, but we can all take a few steps to improve.  Here are a few strategies for writing faster:

  1.  Create an outline: You may think that you don’t have the time to create an outline, but that’s often a big mistake. Take 5-10 minutes to outline each of the project’s sections and information. In the long run, this saves lots of time because you know exactly what you’re writing and what you’re leading up to.
  2. Cut down on the distractions: It’s almost impossible to write quickly while multi-tasking. Take the time to clear your desk of clutter, send a message to your colleagues that you want to focus on a project, close your browser and email notifications. This helps you concentrate and really dig into the task at hand.
  3. Set a timer for writing: Carve out a few blocks of time to focus solely on writing. Don’t spend any time editing or reviewing your work – just write until your time’s up. I like using the pomodoro technique of working for 25 minutes straight on one task, then taking a 5-minute break.
  4. Don’t rack your brain: When you get stuck, don’t spend time searching for the perfect word or sentence. Instead, note what is missing and come back to it later. For instance, add [insert transition sentence] or [insert title]. Write until the timer goes off, then return and fill in the blanks now that your brain is clearer. Not only does this method usually take less time, it also prevents writer’s block.
  5. Take a break before editing: The slowest way to write is to stare at the screen without direction or ideas for improvements. If you find yourself loosing momentum, take a short break. Once you’ve finished the project, take a longer break – ideally one full day – and edit it with fresh eyes.

How about you? Do you have any strategies for writing faster?

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109 days ago Short URL Comments

Writing

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24

Oct

Mono-tasking

multitasking_efficiency

Image by organprinter via Flickr

Focusing on a specific project is crucial to succeeding, whether it’s writing an email, report or strategic planning. Multitasking tempts us every day and threatens to take away this focus. Often, there’s so much to do that it seems impossible to get all of the tasks done one at a time. Yet, working this way often causes errors or just sloppy work, especially with writing. Worse, it leads to inefficiency and procrastination.

Thankfully, there’s a voice in my head that reminds me to just focus and complete the one project.

Mono-tasking isn’t easy – you have to deliberately focus on one thing and tune everything else out. With some diligence, this becomes easier and easier. Here are a few ways to improve focus:

  1. Set a timer for 50 minutes and focus only on one task throughout this time. Once the timer goes off, take a 10 minute break, then spend 5 minutes evaluating what you’ve accomplished and what still needs to be done. This technique is explained in detail in The Wealthy Freelancer.
  2. When working on computer, open only the documents and the pages you need to complete a specific project.
  3. Block time every day to answer emails. If you receive lots of messages in the morning, set aside 50 minutes to respond in the morning. This will improve your efficiency on other projects, and the thoughtfulness of your responses. When working on other projects, remember that your email will still be there when you’re done.
  4. When you feel rattled by the amount of tasks and projects that you need to accomplish, take some time to plan them out. Make sure you’re spending your time wisely and working on high-priority projects.

When we make the effort to focus on one task at a time, we write better, produce better products, serve clients better and solve problems faster. With fewer distractions, we accomplish more.

How about you? How do you tune out the endless stream of information, emails and other distractions? How do you keep yourself from multitasking? What are your tips for mono-tasking?

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215 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Business Writing/Writing

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29

Jul

Writer’s Block

Writer’s Block, Sam Jones

How do you push past writer’s block? This image and a great blog post got me thinking about different strategies and techniques to keep writing.

I consider myself very lucky in that I don’t experience writer’s block often. Usually, all I need to jump start my writing is to switch projects for an hour or two. Let’s say I’m having difficulties with a brochure, I work on the research and outline for another project and then go back to the brochure.

Yet, there have been a few times this doesn’t work. Here are a few techniques for those situations:

1. Create a rough sketch of what you are writing. Use whatever technique works well for you – a series of bubbles shooting off from the central point, a storyboard or a mind map. I like using the mind meister app. Aim to get your ideas and thoughts on paper as quickly as possible, not to create an organized outline. Often, this non-linear approach reinvigorates your ideas.

2. Use a different medium. If you’re having trouble writing web content, use the information to write a newsletter or an annotated diagram. Some novelists do this by writing their story as a play or writing a letter from one character to another. By switching mediums, you focus on the project’s most important elements and may even discover new ones.

3. Let it marinate. This is the hardest part for many writers, but it’s important to accept that writing takes time. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to take a break for a few hours or even a day. You’ll then return to your writing refreshed and with better ideas!

How about you? Have you ever experienced the elusive pain of writer’s block? How did you get through it? Has the experience given you more confidence as a writer?

302 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

Writing

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