Creativity isn’t just for children and artists, but it can sure seem that way.

For many of us, finding the time to be creative in an intentional way — and feeling like we deserve to swim in its illustrious waters (even if we are no Beyoncé or Picasso!) — can be tough. 

In fact, we all benefit from tapping into our creative energy. 

At an individual level, feeling creativity reduces stress hormones, lowers anxiety, and elevates our mood through dopamine release.

It helps us add moments of joy to our routines, and keep our minds sharp.

Our ability to be creative also helps everyone else around us — we can use it to solve tough problems, and see new possibilities for our lives and for the world. And the world needs a lot of better ideas right now!

Intentional creativity, like play, doesn’t go away when we grow up, but it can get buried by the many demands of life. 

That is why we're sharing our 5-Day “Tiny Acts of Creativity” Challenge!

The next 5 mini challenges will take no more than a few minutes of your time each day. We hope you’ll enjoy, and discover something in the process!

P.S. You could do them all in the same day I guess, but if you're trying to build up the feeling of creative momentum, we recommend trying just one per day for the next 5 days!

Day 1: 10 Uses

Quick, what are 10 uses for a paperclip?? (We'll give you a moment to think.

What did you come up with?

Now we want you to try it on your own. Pick a random everyday object in your life (dental floss, car tire, etc.) and think of 10 uses for it! Bonus points if your idea is really unusual.

Goal: Stretch your thinking beyond the obvious.

Day 2: One-Minute Story

This short, playful practice utilizes the clarifying power of constraint, something you’ll see come up in many of our tiny creativity boosts this week. 

Somewhat counter-intuitively, constraint (such as having a time-limit, or a limited number or type of element that can be used) can support our creative mindset by narrowing the field, sparking innovation, and reducing overwhelm. 

In today’s exercise, we invite you to set a timer for 1 minute, and write a story that includes a color, sound, and a surprising ending. Don’t overthink it — just go!

Goal: Build creative momentum under pressure.

Day 3: New Perspective

Today we’ll play with perspective.

Sometimes in life when we get so into our well-worn grooves, we don’t even notice when things start feeling a little less sparkly or interesting than they once were.

If you’ve ever felt like you're in a rut in your thinking, or the way you are experiencing the people and things in your life, today’s practice may be especially helpful for you. 

So first, choose something that you see a lot in your daily life — whether that’s a wall in your room, your ceiling fan, your partner’s ear, or any other object around your house. 

Choose an angle (floor level, extreme close-up, through another object, etc.), and take a photo. 

The benefits of this are many — not only might you find at least a little delight in this new view, but the practice of training the eye to see differently is a powerful tool that can be used in conversations with your loved ones, your work projects, and lots more.

Training ourselves to try out different “frames” for the things that are happening around us helps us see new narratives and possibilities for ourselves!

Goal: Train your eyes to see differently.

Day 4: Art of the "Mashup"

For this challenge, first, choose two unrelated things. 

Next, come up with a product or concept that combines them. 

For example, if you chose “music” and “weather,” you might put them together for an idea for weather-based playlists that change with the forecast. 

Creatively synthesizing disparate things is powerful for many reasons, including how it can give us new ideas in work and life, as well as for how it shows us that seemingly opposing elements can form a powerful partnership. 

Goal: Practice creative synthesis.

Day 5: Constraint Creation

We’ll close out the 5-day challenge with our final tiny creativity boost: constraint creation.

Circling back to the power of constraint in boosting creativity, we invite you to create a drawing, a poem or an idea — with a constraint. 

For example, make a drawing using only shapes, and no lines. 

Create a poem using 6 words. 

Draw a picture using 3 colors. 

For your evening plan, require it to be: off-screens, involve at least one other person, and include time outdoors. 

You get the picture — the sky’s the limit, with constraints. :) 

Goal: Learn how limits boost creativity.

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We’ve played around with several tiny creativity boost ideas, and we hope they've helped you feel even a little more delight and possibility in your everyday life. 

P.S. If you aren't a member of Focused Space, but could use help accomplishing your goals (like organizing your space!), busting through procrastination, or getting motivated… you are welcome to join us at one of our live guided work sessions, or morning planning sessions!

Take care,

— Anna and the focused space team