Inspiration or Desperation? Five Tips to Keep Your Creativity Flowing

Creative inspiration can reveal itself at the most mundane of moments ... you may be standing in line at the grocery store, driving your children to school, taking a shower, or even in the middle of a conversation! Suddenly an idea comes to you, like a spark of lightening or a ray of sunshine. You know when this happens that you better write it down so you don't forget it!

Desperation on the other hand, usually creeps up on you like a weed, growing way too easily! You'll find it rearing its ugly head after you have been sitting in front of the computer for hours, racking your brain and finding not even one small crumb of new material! If your business relies on creativity and inspiration, you may feel constantly jerked around by the seemingly elusive nature of the creative process.

Here are a few tips to help you tap into the light of inspiration and avoid the weeds of frustration and desperation!

• To increase your ability to tap into your creative flow, you must begin to learn what works for you. Some people do their best work when they are alone; others get great ideas while riding on the bus or taking a walk in the hustle and bustle of the city. Does the noise of people and chatter help to stimulate your creativity or do you find this distracting? Do you do your best work in the morning, or do your creative juices start flowing after midnight? Do you enjoy sitting near a window where you can see what's going on outside, or do you find that distracting? Discover what works best for you, and keep doing it!

• If you have been trying to find your creative inspiration and are still coming up short, try stepping away from your project and focusing on something else. Better yet, do something fun that requires no mental effort on your part. When you go back to your work, you will be looking at it with fresh eyes and may think of something you wouldn't have thought of before!

• You can avoid the pangs of desperation by asking for support, and by not waiting till the last moment when you're ready to throw your computer out the window! Ask a mentor, friend, partner or spouse to help you by giving you feedback on what you have been working on, and see if they can offer any suggestions. Once you start talking to another person about your project, you'll be able to connect with the inspirational flow, and you might even find some whole new angles that you just didn't see before.

• Working in a different environment may also help you to get some fresh new ideas. If you are stuck on a writing project and you usually work on your computer, try going outside with a pen and paper, or even a tape recorder! If you normally sit at your desk, change the scenery by working at the kitchen table. You can also print out the work you have completed so far and head to the couch. Even the process of seeing your work printed out on paper may give you some different ideas!

• If you are STILL at a dead end and have tried everything you can think of, then it's time to take a break! Set your project aside for a while. Give it a rest! Have you ever heard the saying "a watched pot never boils"? Sometimes applying the 'heat' just doesn't work to move things forward. So, let your dead end project simmer for a while, and then move onto something else. While you're busy with something new, your stalled project may just get new lease on life!