When Do You Feed Your Creativity?
Randy Wolken, President & CEO
When do you take the time to feed your creative side? The daily grind often leaves little space for creativity. As a leader, you need to be intentional about being creative, because in today’s fast paced world, it won’t happen on its own.
As you read this, I’m on vacation. I needed to get away from the daily grind. For the first few days it was difficult to separate myself from work, but as I let it go, I began to relax and have been enjoying my time away. This is a pattern that many leaders feel when they get away. The first few days the brain desires the grind, because it’s part of our daily habit; it’s what we do. Then, slowly, we begin to settle into a gentler rhythm. You’ll find this rhythm can open you up to what’s possible in the future rather than being clouded by the present.
When we get away from the grind, we give ourselves room to gain perspective. What seems critical in the middle of the daily grind becomes less important and the ability to think strategically reemerges. Leaders are tasked with thinking about both the present and future, but it’s the present that usually grabs the bulk of our attention. When we take time off, we can focus on assessing the future and determining what’s truly strategic and vital to our team and business.
Getting away and finding our better selves also reminds us that we need to feed our creativity on a routine basis even when we aren’t taking time off. How do we remain creative during the rush of the day-to-day? Like anything we want to get done – we need to schedule it and be intentional about it. If we pay attention, we begin to know where we can best gain perspective. Sometimes it’s behind a closed door and some scheduled planning time. Sometimes it’s at the local coffee shop or at home in our favorite chair. We can find this place and this space if we look for it and actually spend time using it.
It all starts with recognizing we need creativity – and so do our businesses. It continues when we encourage other leaders in our organization to take time off and seek to gain perspective as well. So, where do you find your creativity and inspiration? Where do you go to allow yourself to escape the daily grind and rejuvenate? When will you do it next? Will you encourage your team to do the same? There is no better time than now to plan your next creativity session. You need it as a leader, and your business and team needs it from you.