Developing and maintaining a creative edge to your work is an effective way both to increase career prospects and keep the working day fresh. Regardless of the sector that you work in, applying a degree of creativity to your work will both get you noticed and improve your working life. Below are some tips on how to keep your work fresh through creativity.

Creativity is for everyone
There are some schools of thought that suggest that creativity is solely the domain of an elite group of free thinkers, the ‘creatives’. Whilst it may be true that some people are more innately creative than others, the truth of the matter is that more often than not, creativity is the result of hard work and a process. Creativity is a skill, and therefore it can be learned just like any other skill, providing you have the right process and determination.

What this means is that there should be nothing to stop anyone developing their creative abilities, and that any time spent stretching your creative boundaries will not only be rewarding in some way, but also make you more effective the next time you try.

Expand your horizons
True creativity centres around the ability to see things differently from how they currently are and develop effective solutions that did not exist before. In order to do this, you must first be able to think objectively and freely about both the situation and the areas that influence upon it. There is no point trying to address a problem creatively if your mind is still entrenched in the culture and processes that created it.

There are many successful ways to develop your ability to think freely, such as meditation or the concept of mind-mapping, whereby you literally draw a map of your thought processes relating to a subject, but the clearer you can visualise the challenge, the more profoundly you will be able to influence the solution.

Take yourself to new places
Sometimes, temporarily removing yourself from a traditional place of work can improve your creativity. It is said that Einstein hatched his famous theory of relativity not in the lab, but lying on his back in a field, observing the stars and letting his mind wander. Of course, it may not be possible or acceptable to lie in a field during work hours, but any place that is separate from your normal workspace will do.

It is often the case that professionals can feel creatively restricted whilst surrounded by the familiar psychological baggage of their normal workspace, so if you have a problem that needs a creative solution, why not take yourself and/or your team somewhere different and stimulating – you might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Turn restrictions into creative challenges
An advertiser once famously said “Give me the freedom of a tight brief”, and in doing so highlighted an aspect of creativity that seems contradictory at first. How can someone be expected to think freely if they have all the restrictions of a brief to contend with?

The answer is that the restrictions actually inform the creative process and give it necessary parameters. The ability to think freely in a confined space leads to innovation, as the restrictions provide the necessary traction to kick your ideas against.

You get out what you put in
Creative individuals generally have a few things in common with each other, but one of the most common aspects that they tend to share is a genuine interest in life itself. Often, it is their very curiosity about the world around them, and their ability to ask questions about it that underpins their creative thinking. People that ask lots of questions tend to learn more quickly and intuitively than their less questioning counterparts, and therefore can use this extra knowledge and thought processes creatively.

The point at which creativity and reality meet
A lot of the above points relate to the individual creative abilities you might possess or wish to develop in order that you might shed fresh perspectives on your own work. Within any company there is the facility to be creative, although some celebrate this ability more than others, and it is important to keep your ideas rooted in a realistic appraisal of what is required.

Often in a brainstorm situation, you will enter into a two-stage process whereby you have the opportunity to suggest any ideas, no matter how outlandish, and then go through a process of rationalisation with these ideas to see which ones could actually work. This is a crucial part of the creative process, and it is worth working your own internal creative process to ensure both free thinking and critical application of these ideas in the real world.

Spread the word
Now that you have embarked on a journey towards greater creative application, and started to enjoy the experience, perhaps it might be time to get some of your other colleagues involved?

As long as your creative powers are put to good use, and produce clear benefits, in the workplace, your company should support the idea of a more creative workforce. With this in mind, why not organise a few creative brainstorming sessions within your business, and try and get everyone thinking creatively about the most pressing commercial challenges that your company faces?

The creative process is something that will add considerable value to you and your business, not just in terms of productivity, performance and competitive edge, but also as a tool for stretching yourself and colleagues, and increasing morale as you work together towards a common focus. A well-structured creative process creates opportunities for individual recognition and collective ownership of ideas, and these are essentials for success in any economic climate.