5 Quick and Easy Ways to Spark Creativity When You’re a Busy Florist
‘Does your creativity need a recharge? Even the most talented florists experience times when their creative energy wanes, often when they need it the most! So, how do you make sure that there’s always a creative spark to draw from when you’re busy, juggling multiple tasks, but need to be your brightest, most creative self?
Let us introduce you to Kate Campbell who’s on a mission to ignite the creative potential which resides in everyone!
Kate founded her business, Wonderlust, to share her passion for creative THINKING. Not just the ‘doing’ of creativity but the thinking part too - a skill that EVERYONE has; a skill that YOU can ignite; and a skill that will grow the more you use it.
Here at Queen Bee we are enthusiastic members of Kate’s Wonder Club and can absolutely testify to her passion for showing us how to light that creativity spark in our lives and business.
So, who better to ask for advice than Kate herself! When we’re so busy at home and at work we challenged Kate to share a few pointers for super quick and easy ways that we can spark wonder and joy!
Over to you Kate!
Thank you!
Challenge accepted….
Truth-be-told, working in a creative field doesn’t mean you have an endless supply of creativity which can be turned on and off like a tap. We all have peaks and troughs in our creativity, just like every emotion and skill that we draw upon to better our business and better ourselves - sometimes it flows, and sometimes it just, well, doesn’t!
After a blast of creativity at work - a big project that’s taken it out of you, or a difficult situation which needed some ‘creative’ solutions - we can feel exhausted and void of further creative thinking.
But sometimes we still need to be creative, and sometimes we want to be creative because we used to enjoy that feeling of freely exploring our creative side - for no other reason than ‘just because it feels good’. And why can’t you?!
Your creativity is always there, sometimes it’s just exhausted in the area you work in. Luckily, there are MANY OTHER areas and many other ways to be creative. And the ones I’m going to share with you today, are all doable EASILY, QUICKLY, and without a huge amount of brain-power (perfect for when you feel exhausted or when you need to reignite that dormant creativity!)
So let’s take that creativity which you so readily give to your customers and clients, and claim it back for yourself! (Which, rather brilliantly, will also impact your business in the long-run anyway!)
Here are my 5 top tips for sparking creativity easily and quickly - for your wellbeing as well as your business!
Look up, look down, look all around.
But don’t just ‘look’ - make sure you ‘notice’ things. Ask yourself questions about what you see. Be curious. Be the annoying child that keeps asking ‘why’. Why are the airplane lines crossing over? Why has that dandelion chosen that crack in the pavement to grow? Why are my shoes squeaking? Why why why…
How this sparks creativity: We need new input in order to achieve new outputs. Exploring the world with curiosity makes new connections in the brain, which then jumble up to provide innovative ideas which we wouldn’t get otherwise.
Question your routines.
Doing the same thing, day-in-day-out, can be useful but it can also be limiting. It makes us blind to other possibilities. Do something different to your norm. It may be better, it may not, but either way you’ve tried something new.
How this sparks creativity: Novelty switches a light on in our brains. We are automatically tuned to notice new things. Those ‘sparks’ create new neural pathways, reaching dark corners and providing more experiences for us to draw upon when we need to be creative.
Try a spot of mindful doodling.
You don’t need to be Picasso, you don’t even need to be as ‘good’ as your 10 year old niece, you just need a pen and paper, and a moment or two to doodle. Draw a scribble. Fill in each ‘section’ with a different pattern - stripes, circles, zig-zags, flowers! Whatever comes to mind. The end result is not important, it’s the process of doing it which will provide the benefit. Try it and see!
How this sparks creativity: Our minds are (usually!) super active. So much to do, so little time; don’t forget this, don’t forget that. Giving our brains a very easy task - something which requires a small amount of concentration but not a lot - is the perfect environment for our creative roots to thrive. Our hands are occupied, but our minds can wander/wonder! These are the times to cherish, believe me!
Don’t pick up your phone!
OK I admit, this is a tough one, but next time you’re in a busy place - waiting for a friend in the street, waiting for a train, queuing in a coffee shop, wherever you are where you’d USUALLY go to grab your phone - don’t. Instead simply people-watch. Watch the world go by, and let your mind go with it. Look around you, notice the people, notice the buildings, the nature and how people interact with them. Listen to the sounds. Smell the smells. Soak up the atmosphere of the here and now.
How this sparks creativity: Phones are not all bad, but sometimes they cause us to miss what’s around us. We miss experiences. We miss thoughts. We miss out on our own original creative thinking because we’re watching other people’s instead! First-hand experiences are valuable for our creativity - no one else will experience them like you do, and that uniqueness is what makes your creativity special.
And finally, give yourself a nudge in the right direction.
Prompts, challenges, ideas - just for the fun of it - are great ways to light a spark of creativity. Sometimes the most difficult thing about wanting to be creative, is thinking of the ideas of how to be creative. Ironic, really. So giving yourself (or a friend!) a prompt can work really well. For example: How many red things can you spot on your walk today? Collect snippets of conversations that you overhear. Can you find letters in the alphabet in unusual places? How many reflections can you find? Whoever spots the most things beginning with K wins!
How this sparks creativity: When something is at the forefront of our minds, we are more likely to notice it, be aware of it, or see it etc. If I say ‘Don’t think of an elephant’, you probably just did. Once you’ve decided you want a green mini, you’ll see lots of them everywhere. It’s like the law of attraction for creativity: plant the seed, and you’ll more than likely see it grow.
When working in a ‘creative’ job it’s important to remember that YOU need to be creatively inspired in order to be at the top of your creative game for your clients.
Knowing how to spark creativity then becomes a business necessity, but it is also vital for your life outside of work and your wellbeing too. Once you start to live everyday utilising your creative thinking in ways like the ones listed above, the benefits to both your business and your wellbeing are profound.
Your creativity should not be saved solely for your clients, or for your current project. There is enough to go round - make sure that YOU have a healthy chunk of it too.
Just like a flower, plant that creative thinking seed, nurture it regularly, be kind to it, give it space to bloom, and you’ll eventually see the fruits of your creativity labour!
Ain’t that just wonderful!
Love this, thank you Kate! Simple tips that are actually fun to do. Jane practises the Look up, look down, look all around task with her sons when out walking the dog and has found it to be a wonderful way to spark conversation and be mindful (not easy with teenagers!)
If you would like to find out more about Kate, check out her website www.thisiswonderlust.com or give her a follow over on Instagram at @this.is.wonderlust. To ensure you get your regular dose of creative thinking and inspiration, you can join us in Kate’s membership Wonder Club, a community which celebrates creative thinking and its use in future-proofing your business, as well as your wellbeing. Find out more here. She also writes a ‘Creative Sparks’ weekly email which you can sign up to for free.
And of course, to get your buzzing about your marketing you can subscribe here to our Queen Bee newsletter where we’ll challenge your marketing and share lots of prompts and ideas to open your mind to new possibilities for your floristry business!