5 Simple Actions That Helped Me Boost Creativity And Focus That Cost $0

Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.

Another practice I like to do is schedule in 6-10 minute breaks every other hour that serve as a reminder to get up and to ensure I don’t stay glued to my computer screen for too long. And these breaks are just short enough that when done consistently definitely help restore my sense of productivity.

Yet, even though these actions may not magically solve all your problems, everyone can certainly benefit from taking a break every now and then throughout the day to clear their mind a bit.

Sitting In Boredom

Remember in the beginning how I brought up there’s countless articles on how to “hack” your mind and body?

Well, I don’t believe in any of it because honestly sometimes simplicity is enough. And more effective. I don’t want to have think or come up with some elaborate plan on how to reach “flow state”, so I don’t. Why? Because the best way to reach it is truly through, you guessed it — boredom.

Yup, out of boredom comes spontaneity and a shot of clearheaded focus — something that doesn’t come easily when buried deep in a sea of emails. So when I’m literally swamped and feeling anxious, I’ll just go to another room and sit on the floor or sit in a chair and stare out the window or look at the wall for a few minutes.

I push through the immense pressure to scroll through my phone or from doing anything else and funnily enough, after a few moments I feel so much better and clear minded. This is because by forcing myself to accept the constraints of being alone, not using my phone, and taking in what’s around me — this makes me take a step back and accept what is.

It’s very much like when you’re on a plane, you’re suddenly so productive and reading through that book you said you would when you bought it because what else is there to do?

Moral of the story, constraints are your best friend, we just have to learn to accept them more often.

Uplifting My Mood

Everyone knows of an instant fix to perk themselves up be it by listening to a certain playlist, going to a specific coffee shop, or watching a beloved show.

So, when all else fails what do you do?

Personally, I like to sing and dance, so when I feel I need some motivation and focus I’ll play something off Spotify (these days I’m liking their “A Perfect Day” playlist) and I’ll instantly feel better. Maybe for you this means watching a comedy show or cleaning around the house, whatever it is — if it makes you happy, do it and do it often.

But if you’re needing some ideas and inspiration, you can reference this list of 42 scientifically backed ways to uplift your mood.

Changing Up My Environment

Every morning I’ll try to get outside and walk for a bit around my neighborhood, not just because it’s good to get some movement in but for so many other benefits.

Walking alone, if even for just under an hour a day can help with:

• Boosting your immune functions
• Lowering your blood sugar
• Improving your cardiovascular health
• Alleviating stress
• Improving wakefulness and resetting your circadian rhythm

There’s a bunch more but those main reasons are why I like to try and get a walk in every day.

I remember how last year during heavy lock down the times I wouldn’t go out for a walk compared to now doing it at least 3–4x a week has made big changes in how I feel and function day to day.

Say you can’t go out to your neighborhood because of X reason, that’s totally understandable but trying to get some steps in, even inside might make a difference.

Making Something By Hand

When I don’t feel like sitting in silence or going out for a walk I’ll head over to the kitchen or pull out my drawing pad and pens and get to work.

There’s something about getting lost in a process of making something physically with your hands that I can’t properly explain. The action of just doing feels soothing and the end result is nice because you can look back after you’re done and think “wow I did this myself”.

And I learned not only is crafting or doing something physically nice, it has many psychological benefits like improved mental health. So maybe there was some sense to all the banana bread craze 2 years ago.

You don’t need to do anything fancy at all to reap some benefits, even just a simple home cooked meal is a great start but the key is to really try and make something yourself. As a whole, you don’t need to spend an exorbitant amount of money to increase your creativity and productivity because all it really takes is a few simple actions.

There’s no magic pill or 15 step routine that you need to do to reach a state of flow, just do 1–2 small actions like reading a book or taking some time to journal out your thoughts and watch what happens over time.

It’s those small daily actions that when compounded over time that will actually make a difference not just a year or three later, but possibly for longer if you keep at them.

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