Highly creative and productive people know their flow. They know how to tap into their creative juices. In fact, the most innovative people are more calculated in their performance than they are spontaneous. They KNOW 3 things that enable them to activate their creative potential without having to wait for the “feeling” to hit them.

Here is what they know…

1. They Know WHERE To Go

You must have a greenhouse for your thoughts. You need an environment that sparks creativity and opens up your mind. Everyone responds differently in certain environments, this is why creative people know what their best one is. In my early twenties, I used to go to a local Laundromat to think and brainstorm. Sounds weird huh? Well, for some reason the sound of the machines, the warm breeze from the fans and hot dryers did something to me…and it was good! For some odd reason my mind just opened up there to think better. Lately my best place to think and create are public places like Starbucks & Panera. I like to be around people while I work, it energizes me. So where is your greenhouse for thinking? Discover your greenhouse and make sure you go there often. Remember, the most innovative people know WHERE to go in order to tap into their creativity.

2. They Know WHEN To Go

Just like you need to know where to go, you also need to know WHEN to go. There are certain rhythms to creativity and you have to know when your best time to create is. Maybe you are a morning person and need to get going as soon as you get up. Maybe you are an afternoon person and need to save that time for creating. Maybe you are a late nighter and need to make sure you carve out time to create late. First identify when are you at your best and PROTECT that time to be your best. I have coached clients to change when they do certain tasks and it has made all the difference in their business by just a simple tweak of understanding their best WHEN. When your energy tank is full you’ll produce at a faster rate.

3. They Know WHAT To Do

Innovative people have self-reflected and studied themselves long enough to know HOW they work best. This means they have created systems to help them get things done. This system is different for everyone, but rest assured you HAVE TO HAVE ONE! For example, I know that when I sit down and want to create that I take a topic/event/idea/task/etc… and write it down in the center of my paper…I then circle it…and I start to mind map everything there is to brainstorm about that ONE topic…then I start to formulate a plan from all the stuff I have written down. I will take whatever it is I want to tackle and repeat the process as needed. I find that when I sit down to unpack ONE topic I have about 20 ideas that come out of it. But the key is I have to tackle one thing at a time or my mind goes nuts thinking about a million other things. So I schedule my ONE thing and focus on it for the time being. Make sure you know what to do when you go to your creative greenhouse. Find out what works best for you and work it out.

When you know your creative flow it will start to show!