As a new year begins, we’ve been keeping the energy high during our weekly lunchtime Have I got Views For You chats, hosted every Wednesday lunchtime by community member Sam of Festoon Studios. This time, we sat down to reflect on the little things we do every day to improve (or build from scratch) our creative process.
Union St is home to more than traditionally “creative” types - we’re all being creative in the ways that make sense for us. From working around childcare and caring responsibilities to waking up extra early in the morning to do some free writing. Here are some of our most popular strategies for staying creative:
Reading, research and gathering inspiration from the world around us
A common strategy for everyone was to remain open to the world around us, rather than just looking for inspiration while sitting at a desk. A great example of this approach was when The Beatles took the lyrics for “Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite” from a 19th-century circus poster.
A dedicated workspace
Some of us prefer to have a dedicated space set up where distractions are limited and all our tools are set up, ready for us to use. The guitarists in the group would have preferred a guitar in every room!
Try something new before work starts - like freewriting
We're all aware how quickly the evenings can slip away once work has finished. One strategy mentioned was waking up slightly earlier to try your new creative strategy - in this case freewriting. Free writing involves short, focused writing sessions allowing yourself to work uninterrupted. The trick is to not try to edit in the moment, because that slows you down and disrupts your flow.
Break habits and seek new environments
When we inevitably face a creative block, our usual remedy is to step away from the desk. Taking a walk or going for a run to disrupt our unproductive thought patterns is a common approach. It seems that we all enjoy experiencing as many new things as possible to break old habits and develop new ways of thinking!
Test your work with an audience and get feedback
We often fall into the same patterns of thinking, especially when working on our own or remotely. We can overestimate or underestimate the work that we've done or the methods we used to get there. Sharing your work with a colleague or friend who's opinion or expertise you trust, and getting honest feedback is the fastest way to opening up new ways of thinking.
Joining the co-working community has helped some of us avoid the distractions of home working and meet people outside of our own industries. Nothing opens your mind like meeting someone who does a job you’ve never heard of. And we all bring our unique experiences together during our weekly Wednesday chats!
If you’re interested in a focused workspace, with access to monitors, keyboards, and most importantly a coworking community who like to learn from each other, then check out the options here or book in with Matt to take a guided tour.
