![\"creativity](\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/creativity-strategies.jpg\" "\\"creativity")
<\/a><\/p>\nWell, when it comes to creativity and innovation time, in our opinion, has nothing to do with it.\u00a0 What we really need is to manage our energy. Energy is the force we need to keep our neural networks of ideas firing-up properly and sustaining the creative process.<\/p>\n
Energy is the vigorous effort of our mind, body and spirit combined that gives us the capacity to create.\u00a0 Without the proper amount and level of energy, it\u2019s really hard to feel stimulated and be in the right state of mind \u2013 this sets the stage for creativity and innovation.<\/p>\n
The other day our team got together after a long day\u2019s worth of work and we decided to \u201cbrainstorm\u201d new brand concepts and strategies for our company.\u00a0 Because it was late, we had a little more than an hour to dedicate to this effort.<\/p>\n
Problem is\u2026nothing happened. But we had a whole hour yet we were stuck. We were distracted, preoccupied and just plain old tired. In short, our vibe \u2013 or energy \u2013 wasn\u2019t \u201cright.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Even after a few shots of espresso, tea and ricotta cookies, we just didn\u2019t generate exciting, new ideas for our brand.<\/p>\n
So, even though we dedicated the time, we still couldn\u2019t generate the results we wanted because our energy, our vibe was off. So, we decided to abandon our brainstorming efforts and suspend our creative process for another day \u2013 the next day as a matter of fact.<\/p>\n
We met mid-morning and in the span of 30 minutes \u2013 less time than the day before, we generated hundreds of possibilities, whittled them down to our favorites and began to prototype some of them immediately.\u00a0\u00a0 What was the difference? Our energy.<\/p>\n
Even though we had less time, we were able to produce better and more quality ideas.\u00a0 The trick to our success the next day was that we allowed ourselves to get into the right creative state before we dove into our brainstorming task.\u00a0 In fact, we first took a brisk walk as a team and chatted about the day ahead while at the same time staying present with the fresh air and beautiful landscape around us.<\/p>\n
When we entered our brainstorming space, we started with a quote to center our thoughts and energy. The results were amazing. So, the next time you or someone you know (and maybe that someone is yourself) says \u201cI don\u2019t have the time to be creative.\u201d Think again.\u00a0 Consider your energy as well as the energy of the people you are with and implement some simple strategies to help get into the right creative vibe\u2026<\/p>\n
– Jeannine<\/em><\/p>\n