6 ways to stay creative

1. Carry a Sketchbook in Your Bag. One word: moleskins. I swear by them. Just merely carrying around a sketchbook will (fingers crossed) inspire you to write down notes you had no materials to jot down before or to sketch out an idea you had while you were out at lunch that you may have forgotten before you got home. Even if you know you'll never be Van Gogh or Picasso, sketchbooks are a huge way to allow yourself the option to be creative at all hours of the day, wherever you are. Also, how much cooler do you feel when you have a sketchbook in your bag... amiright?

2. Hit the Gym. May sound strange, but if getting your endorphins doesn't make you feel super productive, accomplished, and enthusiastic, I don't know what will. I have come to realize that working out makes me a better designer just as much as it makes me more athletic. It gives me a kick start to filling my day with accomplishing that never ending to-do list we all seem to have. Also, the days I have design work that needs to get done, it's a solid hour of my day to think and brainstorm on ideas for those projects.

3. Spend an Hour in the Design Section of the Bookstore. Grab a stack of books that look interesting, read what you can, perhaps take pictures with your phone of inspirational things, and don't forget to write down book titles that you want to come back to (or even buy later). This same philosophy goes for any other major as well. I have sat cross-legged at the cookbook section, history section, fiction section, among endless other rows, depending on what I need to get done and what kind of inspiration will get me there. It works miracles.

4. Stay up Late. Unless you are the type that is alert and highly-productive at what I consider to be obnoxious hours in the morning, I encourage you to stay up until 2AM every once in a blue moon doing something you consider to be creative. Whether that's sketching or making a collage or water coloring or creating a poster on Adobe Illustrator, whatever it is that gets you excited creatively, do it late at night. If you are anything like me, you'll get some of your best ideas that way. (Seriously... my best ideas come from 11PM-2AM.)

5. Get off Pinterest for a While. We tend to think that Pinterest and scrolling through design blogs and websites makes us more creative, but sometimes it does just stifles us and leaves us overwhelmed and in a huge slump creatively. Turn off Pinterest. Shut down your computer even. Just think and doodle and write down ideas and just be. I'm sure this will help your well being just as much as it'll help you as a creative.

6. Change your Surroundings. You'll be surprised how much trying to get stuff done at a new coffee shop or a local Panera Bread will inspire you and get your creative brain rolling. Sometimes we are just distracted or uninspired by being in the same place we are always in. This gives you a reason to get away and go somewhere fun or try something new.