20 ways to be more creative

20 ways to be more creative Whether you have five minutes to dick a website or a day to repaint a room, our fabulous ideas will kickstart your imagination By Beatrice Hodgkin

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Ilave a bad idea. Fear of getting it wrong can stop us thinking freely. Bad ideas "often lead to new ideas, explorations... and solutions", says Keri Smith in Mess: The Manual Of Accidents And Mistakes (Penguin, £8.99). A bad idea for a chic dinner party? Takeaway. But that might lead you to think of serving home-made rustic pizza as an appetiser.

/^ Discard your early ideas. ^They are the obvious ones, says Tim Hurson in Think Better (McGraw-Hill, £19.99). Instead, push your imagination through several waves of ideas.

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Stand up to brainstorm. It encourages your mind to work

more freely and energetically, says Tina Seelig, author of inGenius (Hay House, £18.99) and lecturer on creativity and innovation at Stanford University.

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Read outside your field. Books that don't seem relevant can inspire unusual ideas, says Cathy Haynes, who runs courses on creativity at The School Of Life (theschooloflife. com). A cook might think of a new recipe by reading a book about the Renaissance, or a banker be inspired to take risks by Keith Richards's biography.

£f Use online pinboard O pinterestcom for inspiration. Eve Menezes Cunningham runs life-inspiration classes (wellbeing-at-work.co.uk) and > September 2012 easyliving.co.uk 53

Myself says, "Saving images and words from people who inspire you is a useful source of inspiration when you next need a creative boost."

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Switch Off. According to Susan Cain in Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking (Viking, £20), some of the best innovations happen during quiet time. Google has 'switch-off areas in its office, so follow its lead and turn off your phone and computer.

^7 Talk to strangers. You'll get / immediate access to a 'strange' way of thinking, which can be inspiring. So next time you're at a bus stop or in the lift, strike up a conversation.

by asking the reader to alter each page into experiences, sculptures or mess.

Give in to distractions. "When we feel blocked, sometimes the best thing is to allow the distractions and have fun," says Haynes. "But make sure they are good, and not time-wasters like browsing Facebook." Watch a film you love or take a brisk walk in a favourite spot.

-\ ^J Paint the walls blue. J_ *3 A 2009 study found that blue encourages creativity. Thinking of redecorating? We love Laura Ashley's Pale Parisian Blue paint (£19.50 for 2.51, lauraashley.com).

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A Work in a new /I

Spot. It could be on thefloor,in your kitchen or a coffee _JL. shop. "A great way to shake up your frame of reference is to change your environment," says Seelig. You could even just rearrange the furniture. /

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Embrace limitations. Not all the best ideas come from free thinking, says Seelig, citing Twitter as an example. Take on the challenge of writing a 140-character recipe or life story.

Q Multitask. "Switching between s projects can help make unexpected connections," says Nina Grunfeld, founder of Life Clubs (lifeclubs.co.uk). Juggling ideas will keep them fresh.

-\ £ Get lost Whether you're in J- »J your home town or a new city, ditch the map, says Lesley Garner in

-j C\ Think like a child. _L \J Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine: How Creativity Works (Canongate, £18.99), references studies that prove that adopting a child's point of view opens up the imagination. Repeatedly ask, "Why?" . or consider how annoying things, like the rain, might actually be fun.

-j S Ask yourself, "What J. O would my icon do?" So suggests Grunfeld. It could be Madonna or Tracey Emin, but "the point is to change your perspective and see your situation with a new attitude".

i Just relax. Downtime lets our ideas bubble to the surface, says Lehrer. Just look at Archimedes's 'Eureka' moment in the bath. Make time to unwind — be it by playing tennis or daydreaming. You shouldn't need to be told twice!

Spark your imagination These brilliant •websites will fire up the engine room of your mind.

-\ O the99percentcom. This J. CJ site - whose motto is, "It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen," - has some brilliantly helpful articles, tips and videos on the whys and hows of generating new ideas, like why having an office pet can stimulate creativity and how getting angry can be productive. 1 O tcd.COm. These free online talks 1- S by arts and business luminaries are an amazing source of ideas. There's a whole section on 'The Creative Spark' - try the talk by Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity and any by Apple founder, the late Steve Jobs.

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Turn this page into a boat. That's right - rip out this page and transform it into something new. The point is not to fear destruction. "To create is to destroy," says Keri Smith in the introduction to her trilogy of activity books, Wreck This Box, which inspire creative anarchy

Everything I've Ever Learned About Change (Hay House, £8.99). You'll rely on your instincts and see things you would otherwise have missed.

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O A stumbleupon.com. *_* V/ Random discoveries can be the source of the best ideas, so begin your search for inspiration right here. Select the topics you are interested in, then click on 'stumble' to go through to the next site. You never know what you'll find. •