Six Surprising Ways to Boost Your Creative Energy

Want to boost your creative energy? Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” Do you consider yourself a creative person? As a writer and creative entrepreneur, I’m always seeking ways to boost my creative energy.

Here are 6 unexpected ways I’ve found to amp up my energy and keep my creative energy going throughout the day.

1. Add butter to your coffee.

I know this sounds weird, but it’s actually delicious. Dave Asprey popularized this idea with his Bulletproof coffee. He claims our bodies need healthy fats and that bulletproof will give you boundless morning energy. Celebrities such as Jeremy Piven and Shailene Woodley tout the benefits.

Asprey recommends using clean coffee beans and unsalted grass-fed butter. If the taste of butter in your coffee doesn’t sit well with you, try a small scoop of coconut oil.

2. Do 10 minutes of yoga.

Practicing yoga has many health benefits, including increased flexibility, muscle strength and tone, weight reduction, and improved energy.

Add a quick yoga session to your morning routine. There are many yoga how-to videos on Youtube. I recommend starting with a 30-day challenge from DoYouYoga.com.

3. Write every morning.

As a writer, my priority every morning is to exercise my creativity by writing 1,000 words toward my latest project.

You don’t have to be a writer to get the benefits of morning writing. Try journaling a few pages in the morning. Write about anything. Is something bothering you? Use writing to get it out of your head and onto the pages. It’s a massive creative release.

Can’t think of what to write? Do a 10-minute brain dump onto the page. Start writing anything that comes into your head—your thoughts, worries, daydreams. Get it on the page, and you will feel an immediate release.

4. Practice daily affirmations.

I learned about daily affirmations from Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert. He repeated and wrote down a positive statement 15 times every day. His phrase was, “I, Scott Adams, will be a successful syndicated cartoonist.”

Adams says he’s gotten into some trouble admitting this technique because people think he believes in magic. He maintains that he was writing about the limits of perception, and also trying to entertain.

In my experience, affirmations are important because they help us focus on our goals. We’re training our brains to concentrate on the positive—where we want to go versus where we’ve been.

I keep several affirmative phrases in the notes section of my phone. I pull these up first thing each morning and repeat them to myself several times. When we continue repeating these powerful phrases, our brains start to believe the messages.

But things don’t happen by magic. Just because we make a statement doesn’t mean it will magically happen. We must back up our statements with action.

5. Reduce your alcohol consumption.

I love to drink wine, but the reality is that alcohol can be an energy enemy. Our tolerance to alcohol builds over time, so one drink a night becomes two a night to get the same buzzed effect.

In my experience, an alcohol detox every few weeks helps increase my energy. I’ll go 4-7 days without drinking and get a boost of energy during that time.

A study by the University of Chicago found that being slightly buzzed can actually increase your creative problem-solving.

Yet, when it comes to energy levels, alcohol is not your friend. Alcohol suppresses the release of the neurotransmitter glutamate, resulting in a slowdown of your brain’s energy levels. Anyone who’s ever woken with a hangover knows the detrimental impact of alcohol on our energy levels the next day.

6. Take a walk.

If you’re feeling drained, taking a walk can help boost creativity. Walking outside is even better, but any walking at all is good.

Why walking? Walking is good for our bodies. Too much sitting is harmful and has been linked with being overweight, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and early death.

Studies show that our brains get more creative as we engage in physical activity. In fact, one Stanford study saw creative output increase by an average of 60% when participants walked.

So, when you need a boost, take a quick walk. Clear your head. If you can’t get outside, consider investing in a treadmill desk so you can walk and work.

I hope these ideas have helped you in some way to get a creative energy boost should you need one. What are other ways you’ve found to increase your creativity? Add your comment below.