13 Dead Simple Creativity Hacks
And I guarantee, these (most) will work on everyone!
My recurring and loyal readers know I am not a fan of listicles, but on this occasion I do feel I need to grab your attention. A while back I wrote about not ever having to struggle to find inspiration, that writer’s block is just something entirely alien to me. I proved that by giving away 50 headlines for free for anyone to use. But then, months later, Susie Kearley reminded me of this article by actually using one of the titles, which got me thinking — there must be something I am doing to get myself into a state of almost “infinite” creativity. Talent is one thing, being naturally creative is also certainly not negligible, but creativity does get triggered, and I wanted to understand what my triggers were.
As I pondered upon what truly generates my creativity, I started analysing my daily habits, the way I was spending my time, the people I talk to, or the things I don’t do. It turns out, I can easily pinpoint the triggers, and they’re not unique to me. You can absolutely reproduce them yourself. I’ll call them hacks, but they’re not really, but more like small tweaks to your everyday life. I guarantee they will boost your creativity and productivity too.
Get quality LinkedIn connections 🔗
If you don’t already use LinkedIn, it’s probably high-time you did. While I am largely against social media in general, when it comes to LinkedIn, its value at the time of writing is still very real to your creativity and productivity.
Of course, it will still be very much up to you how much value you really get out of LinkedIn. It’s important to connect with people who bring quality content and updates to your feed. Otherwise, it will become yet another Facebook, something you really don’t want.
Read articles that interest you 📚
I know it sounds like common sense, but trust me, common sense isn’t that common. For some people, things have to be called out. Reading anything and everything is not going to inspire you. Reading for the sake of reading is wasted time and quite exhausting. You want the opposite.
Read articles about topics that interest you already, or new topics that sound interesting. Widen your horizon in a conscious manner while making sure you enjoy what you’re reading. If you don’t, stop, move on to something else. There is no “have-you-read-it-all police” out there to slap you on the wrist for stopping half-way through a story.
Ditch Facebook 👎
OK, I admit, this will not be dead-simple to do, but you probably should do it anyway. I haven’t had Facebook for 4 years now, and it has been an absolute blessing. I used to get this brain-fog from all the scrolling and bombarding my brain with information I neither cared about nor needed (Thanks, Julie! 🙏).
Seriously. Ditch the platform, once and for all. The amount of relief your brain will get is unbelievable. You don’t realise this, but the way Facebook works is incredibly toxic to your mental health and detrimental to your creativity and productivity. Ditch it, and you will suddenly find that you don’t only have more and more ideas, but also the energy and time to work on them!
Change your YouTube habits 📺
If you’re the person who watches random stuff all the time, this one’s for you. Stop doing that. I’m not saying take the fun out of watching YouTube, but rather expand the fun and make it purposeful. Mix things up. Short, informative videos, mixed with reviews, real-life stories, maybe some news.
While watching cute animals and crazy Russian car crashes does have its appeal, try to turn your YouTube experience into more than just that. You’ll find that due to the nature of how YouTube works, the recommended videos and categories will start reshaping, and you’ll get more and more videos that trigger your creativity.
Always be ready to take one-liner notes 🗒️
Your phone has a notes app. Why do you think it’s there? Start using it! If I hadn’t jotted random thoughts down, half the articles I released in the last 6 months, would not exist.
If you use multiple devices, try to use a notes app that syncs between them. I, for one, use Ulysses, but there are plenty of others. Whenever you have an idea, jot it down, you can make sense of it and distill it later. What’s important is not to let your thoughts fall into the abyss of time.
Assume every piece of information is an opportunity 💡
Whatever content you are consuming, whoever you are having a conversation with, always assume and look out for triggers for new ideas. Just the other day, I released an article on migrating from Intel MacBooks to M1 MacBooks, and it all originated from a simple conversation with a colleague.
Whenever you realise that a piece of information sounds interesting to you, it has a potential to become interesting to someone else as well. That’s an opportunity for new content!
Consume more documentaries 🤓
I like to be opinionated, but not at the cost of looking like an absolute eejit. I am a proud man, so I avoid situations where my pride can be hurt, and I do so by improving my understanding of the world through documentaries among other things.
Learn a bit more about the world around you. You’ll find that often after watching a documentary you’ll feel like you would like to share some information with others as well. There you go, creativity just hit you again! The more valuable information you can absorb, the more you can generate. And not just more, but of higher quality!
Read comments on your favourite speciality websites 💬
Reading articles is fun, especially when it comes to topics you already enjoy reading about. But, as I stated in another article of mine, the comment section is typically the most interesting part. That’s where all the other perspectives come to life, and when you see one that you can really identify with or find intriguing enough to expand on, instead of writing a crazy long comment, just write an article!
Declare yourself a content creator 🧑🎨
Yes, the way you see and project yourself matters a lot. The moment you put into the universe that you’re a content creator, in this particular case, a writer, you’ll find that your entire attitude changes, your actions change, and some of my “hacks” from this very list you’ll apply instinctively, just like I did.
The human brain is an incredibly powerful tool, and you can control it. Moreover, once you have control over it, you can even control other people’s brains through better and better content. All because you decided you’re a writer, and you’re going to own that decision.
Write before bedtime 🛌
If you’re like me, you’ll have countless thoughts before bedtime. I, for one, am terrible at going to sleep. My brain is so noisy, it needs an outlet. Writing is a very good one. But even if you’re a video creator, you can still script your videos.
Writing is an easy outlet, that’s all I’m saying, so instead of spinning in bed like a pig on a spit, let your thoughts find their way onto a creative canvas. Just like with taking notes randomly, don’t worry about cohesiveness or anything like that. You can make sense of it all the next day.
Take a walk 🚶♂️
Energy and creativity doesn’t just happen. Just like a nice meal needs to simmer, information in your brain needs to do that, too. So, when you feel like mental exhaustion is trying to settle in, take a walk, put your earbuds or cans on, crank the music up, and have a nice walk.
Fresh air combined with some light muscle-activity as you’re stalling down the streets will relieve some of the stress from your brain, and you’ll find that by the time you’re back home, you’re ready to rock-and-roll again. Even if you get another 20 minute writing burst out of it, it was still worth it!
Lubricate 🍹
The good news about being a content creator is that likely you’re doing this as a side-activity, and even if you’re trying to make money out of it, you are your own boss. This means you get to drink, and frankly you even get to write drunk as long as you can keep your sentences and paragraphs together.
Obviously, I’m not suggesting you reach to alcohol every time you sit down to write. There are plenty of other beverages out there that do the trick, but I will admit that some of my articles were fuelled by a few glasses of Gin and Tonic or a nice cold IPA. Just to illustrate, here’s an example… 😁 🍹 🍺
Sleep 💤
This should also be common sense, but sleep does make a huge difference. I am not talking just about sleep during the night. While that’s certainly very important, we aren’t all that great at making the most of that, so if your body tell you that you need a nap, have a nap. It will do miracles to your creativity!
There is a trick to it, though. You see, once you wake up from your nap, don’t plop your ass down in front of the TV or do something entirely mind-numbing, that’s basically undoing what you achieved with the nap. Instead, sit down and write. Use that burst of energy to create. It might run out fairly quickly, anywhere between 30–120 minutes, but at least during that time you were creative.
A bonus “hack”…
When all else fails, I find that there’s always a guaranteed way to get my creative juices flowing again. Perhaps it’s rooted in some form of borderline narcissism, but reading my own drafts and published articles, or — lately — even listening to them with the voice set to Harry (it’s slower and sounds more posh), can get me in the mood to write again. In fact, this very bonus hack comes from just re-reading my story before hitting the publish button. I was about to go to sleep, but here we are, I guess my brain had a couple more things to say. 😃
I sincerely hope you enjoyed this read. It was entirely unplanned, just like 50% of my other stories. It all came from a burst of excitement. I always get excited when I get to understand myself better, why I do the things I do, and what keeps me productive and creative. Hopefully, this list will give you guidance going forward and contribute towards your next 100 articles, or whatever you might be creating. 🚀
Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, Lego fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer!
