Highly creative people can contribute extraordinarily to a company, but in most instances they can be problematic to manage. However, there’s a reason why people do not naturally use the words creativity and productivity simultaneously; it’s often claimed that the most innovative ideas occur when the mind is not structured, allowing for ideas to continuously progress. Unfortunately, employees with disorganized minds can cause problems in a workplace setting where there are constant deadlines, long meetings, detailed phone calls, and emails to answer. So how does one manage a creative mind the workplace? Here are a few tips:
Schedule Time for Creativity
To make a creative employee feel comfortable within your workspace, you must foster their creativity and embrace it. The best way to do this is to designate time to be creative. We manage this at The Burnette Agency through a shared company calendar and weekly creative meetings. Do not avoid or neglect this designated time, and treat it with the same importance as a meeting or an important phone call.
Avoid Distractions
Creative individuals tend to get distracted easily. To avoid interruptions, try focusing on what’s in front of you. This can mean a number of things, such as turning off your cell phone, removing any background noises, make sure your office is comfortable, and making sure your desk is clean. If you feel yourself getting pulled in different directions, just stop and focus on one task until it’s completed.
Look After Yourself
The caffeine-fueled person can only keep up for so long before crashing and burning. One of the best ways to be productive and undistracted is to make sure you are being cared for. Caring for yourself comes in many forms, such as eating healthy foods, getting plenty of sleep, exercising regularly, and even taking regular breaks from your work.
Change Your Thinking
Change Your "I Don't Know" or "I Can't" Thinking to "What If...?". Sometimes our own fixed patterns can be a major barrier to inspiration and creativity. Given the problem at hand, if you think close-ended statements such as “I can’t…,” “I don’t know…,” or “I’m stumped…,” you’re more likely going to create a negative self-fulfilling prophecy and remain in a stuck mindset.
Get Out of Your Head with Exercise and Movement
In correlation with looking after yourself, physical activity helps us get out of our heads and stimulate new thought patterns. If you’ve ever heard the saying, “motion dictates emotion” consider that motion can dictate inspiration too. Engage in robust physical activity such as brisk walking, running, aerobics, yoga, bicycling, or swimming, weight training, basketball and fresh ideas may come out of the blue.
Keep a Notebook
WRITE. IT. DOWN. The disorganization of creative minds can also contribute to forgetfulness. We suggest always having a notebook on hand, and writing down everything and anything that comes to mind. It can be as simple as a single word or name, or as important as an idea for a new client campaign. While your stroke of genius may seem easy to remember, don’t ever assume you can hold onto an idea over night. WRITE. IT. DOWN.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough quality sleep may be challenging for most of us, and researchers note sleep helps the brain be more creative. At The Burnette Agency, we cannot stress the importance of a good night’s sleep in order to keep those creative juices flowing. When you sleep, your brain isn’t just resting, it’s also busy making connections with pre-existing ideas and concepts that didn’t seem connected before. In essence, your brain is being creative even when you’re fast asleep and dreaming.
In conclusion, highly creative employees can be an indispensable asset to a business when their creativity is managed correctly. If you’re interested in learning more about the creative individuals working at The Burnette Agency, or simply want to pick our brains about creative ideas for your business, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Contact The Burnette Agency by e-mail at info@theburnetteagency.com or by phone at 404-850-2081.
