| Spark Creativity With Learning |
| Explore a subject you know nothing about. |
Pick a podcast at random and listen to it. |
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Pick the first word that pops into your head. Read a book with that word in the title or as the subject. |
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Use the Random article button on Wikipedia to learn about a brand new subject. |
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Discover one new YouTube channel per week about a topic that interests you. |
| Build on an area of expertise. |
Complete an online mini-course related to your career or hobby. |
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Subscribe to a YouTube channel devoted to a skill you want to improve. |
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Sign up for a newsletter based on a subject you would like to learn more about. |
| Use a historical time period as inspiration. |
If you’re a writer, write a historical novel. |
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If you’re an artist, draw a poster influenced by that time period. |
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Google a year from history at random. See what information comes up about that year, and use it as inspiration for your next project. |
| Let Everyday Objects and Activities Inspire You |
| Find beauty in the ordinary. |
Write a short story about a coffee shop you visit often. |
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Create an Instagram display featuring everyday items around your home. |
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Walk through a part of your neighborhood that you’ve never been to before and snap pictures of your jaunt. |
| Discover hidden secrets. |
Design a treasure hunting map. |
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Play a mobile game where you have to hunt for treasure. |
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Look for Easter eggs in apps and services you use. |
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Learn different ways to solve a Rubik’s cube. |
| Explore an urban environment. |
Draw or paint a picture of an interesting building. |
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Write a story set in a city you’ve lived in or visited before. |
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Pick a museum in your city. Go to that museum and explore every exhibit within it. |
| Explore a rural environment. |
Draw or paint a picture of the horizon. |
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Drive, bike, or walk to a nearby rural area. Take panoramic pictures of that landscape. |
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Write a ghost story set in a small town or village you’ve visited. |
| Go on a road trip. |
Open Google Maps. Chart a drive, and complete that drive in a day. |
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Pick three national parks that you want to visit. Document your visit to each of them through photos and videos. |
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Pick a campground that is no more than a day away. Drive there and camp out for the weekend. Capture the experience in a journal. |
| Discover an unfamiliar part of the world. |
Open Google Earth. Pick a random destination on the map, and zoom in on it. Explore that part of the map. |
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Go to the Google Tours main page, and find a tour on a subject that you would like to know more about. |
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Use Google Tours to travel to a place you’ve never been to before. |
| Find inspiration in nature. |
Go for a walk in a park. |
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Watch one nature documentary per week through a streaming service of your choice. |
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Pick any landscape formation (i.e. cliffs, forests, waterfalls) and explore all examples of it in your area. |
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Listen to ambient rain sounds while you’re working. |
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Write a short story or a novella about a severe storm that you’ve experienced. |
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If there’s a thunderstorm approaching, turn off all music, TV, and radio stations. Listen to the sounds of that storm while you work. |
| Forget About Speed, Perfection, and Monetization |
| Just have fun! |
Play a mobile game made for kids or a board game that you loved as a kid. |
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Start a sketchbook. Draw one thing in that sketchbook per day, until the sketchbook is full. |
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What creative activity did five-year-old you love to do? Indulge in that activity now. |
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Make a Pinterest board for a subject that interests you. |
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Rearrange your phone/desktop screen with custom icons, so finding the app you need is easy and unique. |
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Create a handful of cartoon avatars for yourself. |
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Do nothing. |
| Make creativity a habit. |
Set aside one hour per day away from work, family, and friends. Spend that time working on a specific creative project. |
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Come up with a specific theme every month and base your creative activities on it. |
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Use the Pomodoro method or the Don’t Break the Chain method to work on creative tasks. |
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Build a LEGO castle brick by brick as you work through your project. |
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Start your own version of Project 365. Take a photo, draw a sketch, write a poem, or do any such creative activity daily for 365 days. |
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Go on an artist date i.e. a solo creative expedition every week. (The idea was popularized by Julia Cameron in the book The Artist’s Way.) |
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Use a Bullet Journal to document your creative progress in a fun manner. |
| Look for novelty and variety. |
Read a book that’s on a friend’s reading list. |
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Watch a movie from a different genre every week. |
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Discover a new artist using Spotify’s radio feature. |
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Work on an unfamiliar activity. Build a one-page website. Create your own font. Design your dream home with a 3D modeling tool. |
| Embrace mistakes. |
Free write a short story. |
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Find an object that interests you. Instead of trying to take the “perfect shot,” take 20 pictures of the same object. Pick your favorite. |
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Pick a challenging project from your to-do list—the one you’ve been most afraid to start. Focus on finishing it, whatever its outcome. |
| Imagine Your Idea on the Silver Screen |
| Watch classic movies. |
Pick one year from the past hundred years and watch three movies from that year. |
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Look for a list of “the best classic films” online. Watch three movies from that list. |
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Pick a historical era that you enjoying seeing on screen. Watch a classic movie that was set in that era. |
| Watch movies from a genre that inspires you. |
Start a movie review blog. |
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Write your own movie script. |
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Pick a year and a genre of movies. Watch three movies from that genre that were released in that year. |
| Watch TV shows to learn how to craft a story. |
Read a book on how to write a TV script. |
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Watch TV shows about TV shows. |
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Write a review of a TV show to visualize what you liked about the story and what you didn’t. Apply those lessons to your own story. |
| Sharpen Your Problem-Solving Skills |
| Find an innovative way to solve a problem. |
Play a puzzle game. |
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Look at a historical, well-documented problem. Ask yourself “how would I react to this problem, if I was faced with it?” |
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Brainstorm solutions for a tricky problem listed on Quora or Reddit. |
| Listen to other innovative thinkers. |
Watch one TED Talk per week. |
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Watch a Netflix documentary about an innovative historical figure. |
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Watch documentaries about current events and issues, to see how people are trying to solve problems right now. |
| Break down a problem into smaller parts. |
List 10 creative goals that you want to complete. Pick your top three goals from that list and work on them. |
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Define a problem in one word on a whiteboard. Whenever you think of a solution, write that down next to the initial word. |
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Start with a keyword and create a word bubble using free association. Mix and match words in the bubble to spark an idea or a solution. |
| Reward Yourself for a Job Well Done |
| Celebrate your success in simple ways. |
Buy a new game, book, or some other form of creative media once you’ve reached a major creative goal. |
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Buy a candy jar. Put it on your desk. When you finish a milestone task associated with your creative project, give yourself a treat. |
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Find a drawing that you finished 5+ years ago. Redraw it with your current skill level and enjoy how far you’ve come. |
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