Creativity Is Great For Your Brain (And Not Just for Writers)

In these lazy, hazy summer days when it’s hard to get motivated to write or focus on other writers’ words, some downtime just may be the right recipe for success. Rather than push yourself to get a report or a book done, pick up a pencil and doodle.

Yep, doodle.

Photo courtesy of Andrey Novik via Unsplash.com

As I learned from a valued client, taking time out of your day to sketch or sing opens up new channels in your brain and lets your energy flow in new ways. Yes, take some time to play a little.

Often, if we’re picking up work to cover for holidaying colleagues or hustling as a solopreneur, you don’t feel you have time to stop, breathe or eat. Don’t let your summer get away from you.

Take time to get creative

After work, after dinner – maybe even before breakfast if it suits you better – give yourself permission to do whatever creative thing makes you feel alive. Use the part of your brain that you don’t get to flex in your day-to-day life.

Scratch out a few lines of creative writing. Colour vibrant hues onto a black-and-white design in a colouring book. Dance with passion.

Just imagine that freedom may make you feel better. Now, make sure you actually do it.

How It Helps Your Brain

For creative professionals, like myself, we’re lucky in that we get to dabble in wordplay or mental images all day. We take what others envision and make it sing so their blog get more website traffic or their book sells more copies. Other professions have their own way of showing their dynamic skills, like putting together financing deals or solving an accounting dilemma.

Off the clock, I retreat to my sewing room and turn bits of fabric into quilts. It’s part puzzle-making, problem-solving, design and colour coding all in one. It relaxes me in ways that I cannot explain. And it makes me a better writer and editor. When I’m patching pieces together, it’s like building the phrases within a book. Sometimes, a light bulb goes off and I need to scramble for a pen!

As my brain settles into a new rhythm, ideas flow that were tied up somewhere out of reach. While I’m calculating how much fabric I need for sashing, I’m using the math skills I’ll need for working on invoices later. I imagine more. I daydream.

The Benefits of Being Creative

Producing something creative also gives you a boost in your self-belief. Heck, if I can make a dress that I can wear in public – or share a remembrance poem or hang my drawing behind my desk – I’m going to feel more accomplished overall.

It’s not healthy or wise to keep ourselves in mental cages that restrict what we think or do. Cut loose and have a blast. You don’t have to share your rudimentary sketches or your clumsy verses at first. Enjoy the process of feeling the lines or words come out of some unbidden place.

You never know, that book you’ve always wanted to write may be lurking just below the surface of your unconscious. Let it free and see where it goes.