How to be More Creative in Your Career

You don’t have to work in a creative field to foster your innovation. Like a muscle, you can strengthen your creativity. Nurturing your creative tendencies can help you become an innovative team member and make your work more enjoyable. Consider the following tips on how to be more creative in your career.  

Surround Yourself with Inspiration

If you’re feeling stuck in a creative rut, it may be time to be more mindful about what inspires you. You could start a Pinterest vision board where you pin images that strike a chord with you. You could create a physical vision board on the walls of your office or bedroom. By pinning photos from magazines, lines from stories, or even recipes that inspire you, you could cultivate totally new concepts. Fashion designer Rei Kawakubo encourages women to embrace new ideas. She says, “Creation takes things forward. Without anything new, there is no progress. Creation equals new.”

Take Calculated Risks

Taking risks can be intimidating for everyone, but consider how taking risks can help you explore new possibilities and experiment with their abilities. Don’t shy away from test driving a new experience to see where it takes you. Painter and printmaker Helen Frankenthaler believes in taking calculated risks. She says, “The only rule is that there are no rules. Anything is possible. It’s all about risks, deliberate risks.”

Think Outside the Box

Working for corporate or franchised organizations comes with a fair share of regulations. Instead of letting these regulations bind you, think beyond them. Problem-solving is a huge part of any position, so evaluate your options and think outside the box. How can you work within the regulations in a new way? Brainstorm ideas and consider them individually for a unique outcome. Furniture designer and architect Eileen Gray believed in challenging conventions. She famously said, “To create, one must first question everything.”

Expand Your Comfort Zone

Pushing past your comfort zone seems like a daunting task, but new inspiration awaits outside your boundaries. Creativity and curiosity are two sides of the same coin. Get curious about what might happen if you stretch outside of your comfort zone in your current position. Being more creative in your career means finding ways to do things that are unique to you! Furniture designer Florence Knoll wasn’t afraid to stretch her comfort zone and create her own path. She turned her husband’s furniture company into an $11 million organization. She said, “I needed the piece of furniture for a job, and it wasn’t there, so I designed it.”

Dedicate Time to Think

Schedule time to consider your goals and how you’re working to achieve them. Dedicating time to brainstorm will get your creative juices flowing and help you be more creative in your career. The good news is, thinking doesn’t require a specific setting or accommodation. You could think on your commute, after dinner, or while doing your morning routine. When you start picturing your dreams and considering how to work towards them in the future, you start infusing your actions with that creativity. Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg believes in making her dreams into reality through thoughts. She said,

“I don’t like to talk about my dreams. I like to make them happen. I prefer to talk about them when they’re done."

Being more creative in your career may seem like a distant dream, but incorporating these mental shifts can boost your curiosity, creativity, and productivity. Take the advice of these empowering, creative women and stretch your comfort zone, surround yourself with inspiration, take calculated risks, take time to think, and reach beyond the regulations. Forge your own creative path in your career. For more inspirational quotes on creativity, check out the visual from 1stDibs below.

About the Author

Hana Rehman is a digital content creator who helps 1stDibs create helpful and compelling stories worth sharing. Her background in digital marketing and creative writing has led her to cover unique topics ranging from art to interior design.