201 provocative ways to arouse your creativity (part2-end)

1. Don’t plan. Plans are good for buildings, savings, exercise. But there comes a point when it’s time to face the stage, the page, the canvas or the blank screen.
2. Let go. You heard me. Let go!
3. Start fooling around. Splash the paint on. Scribble the words down. Sing.
4. Notice when you surprise yourself. Keep playing around with that one good riff until you find the next one growing out of it.
5. Get good amazing feedback. Don’t settle for everyday compliments.
6. Enjoy not knowing. Isn’t it nice to have one small corner of your life where you don’t know what you’re going to do, or what’s going to happen? 
7. Have clearly defined goals. This will help direct your attention to a purposeful outcome.
8. Have balance between your skills and challenges. Too easy, you’ll be bored. Too hard, you may feel frustrated.
9. Avoid multi-tasking. It is impossible to get immersed in an activity if you are not totally focused on it.
10. Set aside a time to do non-productive tasks. Activities such as reading your e-mail, tweeting and making phone calls should be done at a defined time.
11. Before you start, clean your desk, make sure you have the equipment you need, adjust the temperature and make sure the noise level is optimal.
12. Adjust your goals as your skills increase.
13. Avoid engaging in mindless tasks such as TV. Mindless activities are usually passive and decrease flow experiences. 
14. Just say screw it. What I do know is that everyone gets jammed sometimes, even the pro writers you look up to. And when that jam happens, it’s important to remember that no one forgets how to write well. It doesn’t disappear. It’ll always be there. And maybe… maybe you just have to say screw it and stop looking for it so hard. 
15. Avoid logical thinking. It’s often the enemy of truly innovative thoughts.
16. Break the rules. Look at creative thinking as a destructive force. You’re tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others have set for you.
17. Stop being practical. Practicality stifles innovative ideas before they can properly blossom.
18. Allow your mind to be at play. You’ve heard the expression “work hard and play hard.” They’re the same thing to a creative thinker.
19. View yourself as an explorer. In an era of hyper-specialization, it’s those who happily explore completely unrelated areas of life and knowledge who best see that everything is related.
20. Give yourself permission to turn everything that’s accepted upside down and shake out the illusions.
21. Give yourself permission to be a fool and see things for what they really are.
22. Reject the false comfort of clarity. Ambiguity is your friend if you’re looking to innovate.
23. Free yourself to make mistakes. Just try out your ideas. Ask yourself, what’s the worst that can happen if I’m wrong?
24. Strip away all of your delusions and acknowledge that you’re inherently creative, and then start tearing down the other barriers you’ve allowed to be created in your mind. 
25. Practice thinking. Think about things and formulate some opinions. They may be right, they may be wrong, but I bet they’ll be interesting.
26. Use life markers for ideas. Old photos, family stories, a journal entry, a souvenir from a trip, a collection you love or a piece of clothing–if you’ve saved it for a reason there is most likely a story there.
27. Look at your life as if you’re a stranger. Good writing is made up of details so learn to see the details of your own life.
28. Look at what inspires other people’s creativity and then put your own personal spin on it. But whatever you do make it your own and bring your own life and talents to the task.
29. Make lists. What are your favorites? Foods, colors, flowers, cars, games, habits? What are your pet peeves, your thrills or your favorite vacation spots? Use lists to spark an idea and run with it. 
30. Don’t sit and write lists of ideas. All you’re doing is intellectual foreplay and pussyfooting around the problem. You’re not dealing with it head on.
31. Don’t give up and sit sulking in the corner. Sooner or later you’re going to have to come out. You’re just prolonging the pain.
32. Don’t compare your work to other peoples’. Everyone is unique. You have to find your own creative voice.
33. Don’t choose the company of doubters and negative people. They will just pull you down.
34. Do pick up your camera (or you pen) and start taking pictures (or writing) of anything and everything. One idea will lead to another.
35. Do set yourself an achievable target.
36. Do challenge conventions and the norm. Challenge everything you’ve learnt.
37. Do think in terms of opposites, conflicts and interesting juxtapositions.
38. Do realize and remember that all creatives feel the same as you do from time to time and some of the most successful are driven forward by tremendous self doubt. Turn the negative feelings into positive self motivation.
39. Do surround yourself with people that believe in you and want you to succeed. This kind of support makes a world of difference. 
40. Stop second-guessing yourself.
41. Experiment with different media: music, photography, writing or drawing.
42. Read one page of the dictionary every day and write down any words that catch your attention.
43. Show up even if you’re not feeling creative.
44. Immerse yourself in the task at hand: do your research, read everything you can about your subject, attend seminars, ask experts for their input, and so on.
45. Be curious about everything.
46. Exercise during your lunch break.
47. Go to the playground. Play hopscotch, jump rope, climb on the swings, and climb on the jungle gyms.
48. Awaken your sense of wonder. Take yourself on some small festive adventure.
49. Think of something routine you do on a daily basis and find a way to give it a little more pizzazz.
50. Let your body contribute to your creative process by blaring the music and dancing around the room.
51. Surround yourself with inspirational props, whether it’s books on creativity, images you find inspiring, or creativity quotes. 
52. Set aside a day. By making time to devote one day to your project of choice, you may be able to unblock everything by focusing on just one task.
53. Alter your atmosphere. Try putting up some new art, rearranging the furniture or clearing out some clutter.
54. Battle the blabber. Examining the psychology of feeling blocked may help you to unblock, and yes, writing about it can help you to untangle some knots inside and be able to finally, finally create. 
55. Hypnosis. Although some people may be skeptics, hypnosis and other forms of meditation can be perfect for relaxing the mind and body and getting your creative juices to running freely.
56. Timer challenge. It might be useful to time yourself when you are working using an online timer. This will show you how productive you are being, and often when we are timed, we simply keep going and going.
57. Identify your creative times. Choose those times when you know you will be the most creative.
58. Don’t Force It. Stop. Do something else. When you get back you will feel far more refreshed and ready to get started. 
59. Generate a boatload of ideas.
60. Take a trip outside your personal bubble.
61. Criticize later, or some part of your mind may feel threatened and shut up and withdraw.
62. Build it. Like so many things in life creativity is a bit like lifting weights. If you train, over time you’ll build your creative muscles.
63. Sleep less. When I feel a little groggy and sleepy, the words start flowing out of my fingers when I sit down to write.
64. Arrive late and leave early. Get straight to the heart of the narrative.
65. Learn to say no/no way/go f*ck yourself because no one else will stand up for your work.
66. Go out and live your life. Do not allow yourself to become stuck in a hole of your own creativity.
67. Make up the rules for what you want to produce.
68. Work on several projects. This keeps you energized and working creatively even when one project isn’t firing.
69. Try to write every day, even if just for a few minutes.
70. Write simply and vividly.
71. Don’t hold back and don’t protect yourself. Say things no one else has said before.
72. Collaborate with new people.
73. Cultivate a community of writers. Writing can be a lonely enterprise, but it doesn’t need to be – other writers understand where you are, what you’re thinking and feeling. 
74. Play.
75. Don’t consume and create at the same time — separate the processes.
76. Shut out the outside world.
77. Reflect on your life and work daily.
78. Look for inspiration all around you, in the smallest places.
79. Start small.
80. Just get it out, no matter how crappy that first draft.
81. Don’t try for perfect. Just get it out there, asap, and get feedback.
82. Constantly make it better.
83. Ignore the naysayers.
84. But let criticism help you grow.
85. Teach and you’ll learn.
86. Shake things up, see things in new ways.
87. Apply things in other fields to your field, in ways not done before.
88. Drink ridiculous amounts of coffee.
89. Write all ideas down immediately.
90. Read wildly different things. Especially stuff you disagree with.
91. Get lots of rest. Overwork kills creativity.
92. Don’t force it. Relax, play, it will start to flow.
93. Allow your mind to wander. Allow distractions, when you’re looking for inspiration.
94. Then shut them off when you’re going to create.
95. Do it when you’re excited.
96. When you’re not, find something else to be excited about.
97. Don’t be afraid to be stupid and silly.
98. Small ideas are good. You don’t need to change the world — just change one thing.
99. When something is killing your creativity, kill it.
100. Stop reading creativity advice, clear away everything, and just create.
101. Most of all, have fun doing it.