4 Easy Steps to Increase Creativity at Work

UPDATED JULY 2020

I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity at work lately. Having recently gotten into a position where being creative is very helpful, it occurred to me that jobs I haven’t liked very much didn’t give me the opportunity to create. I’ve also encountered jobs where creativity wasn’t really an asset because I needed to pretty strictly follow instructions.

I’m sharing my method because I know I’m not the only creative who has struggled with this!

To survive these jobs (because we need things like food and shelter), I had to figure out a way to use my creativity while still staying within my professional boundaries. I’m sharing my method because I know I’m not the only creative who has struggled with this!

Follow these 4 steps to increase creativity at work:

Step 1: Question Yourself

The first step is all about analyzing your feelings about the work you do.

Whether you’re scraping by and need some survival tips or love your job and want to change things up, the very first step to capitalizing on your creativity at work is to ask yourself these questions:

What do I like about my job?
What do I dislike about my job?
What about my job could make my life easier?
What about my job could be more enjoyable (or less annoying) if I made changes?
What will happen when I make changes?
What can I personally change that will not interrupt or negatively impact my productivity?
Why do I want to make changes?
What outcome do I expect when I make changes?
Will I make multiple changes immediately or add them slowly?
Who else might be affected by my changes?

This first step is all about analyzing your feelings about the work you do. You don’t necessarily have to write about these things at length, or even write them down at all; however, to make improvements and add that creativity you’re craving at work it’s important to first analyze what’s going on right now. If you skip this part and just start making changes, it will be less rewarding in the end because you won’t have a clear idea of where you started.

Step 2: Analyze What You Do

The second step is all about figuring out what you are actually doing right now.

Once you have thought critically about your current workflow, your likes and dislikes, and why you want or need to make changes, you are ready to think about your creativity! There are two major components to consider as you think about being creative at work:

Job RequirementsThese are “what” items: things you absolutely need to do your job successfully. Think about things such as:

What tasks/projects need to be completed
When tasks/projects need to be completed
Skills you have that you actively use to complete your tasks
Skills that would make your job easier or more efficient that you don’t currently have
Resources you use to complete your tasks or projects

Job Functions These are “how” items: ways you do work to complete your job successfully. Think about things like:

Specific task/project protocol you must follow
Your motivation for completing tasks
The organization method(s) you use to keep yourself on track at work
How you spend a majority of your time (i.e. do you spend time making calls, answering email, working on difficult problems, etc.)
How you use the resources available to you

This step is all about figuring out what you are actually doing right now. What your work is and how you do it is important! Sometimes the work itself isn’t the reason we are miserable at our job. It can also be the way we complete tasks/projects.

Step 3: Connect Passion to Your Work

The third step is about figuring out how your passions and work overlap.

You’ve figured out why you need change, what you do, and how you complete your work. You’re doing great! If you’ve felt stuck in a rut, this kind of critical thinking can be difficult because you might be tempted to look exclusively at why you don’t like your job. On the other hand, if you love your work, you might tend to think more about the parts you enjoy and leave out parts that could be better.

In either instance, you are, in fact, working at your job and you got it for a reason. Whether that reason is because you have a family to feed, you want to make a difference in the community, or even just be financially independent, this job right now is helping you get there. That idea can be hard to see, especially when you’re unhappy at work; but, everything you do is a stepping stone to get to where you want to be.

Everything you do is a stepping stone to get to where you want to be.

Work can sometimes get disconnected from your passions, which can be a major cause of discontent. It’s hard to like doing something when you don’t really care about the outcome, right? This step is about figuring out how your passions and work overlap.

Doing Work You Don’t Love

Almost everyone has done a job they don’t really like at some point or another. Some major offenders are customer service jobs. Who here has had one of those? I know I have! It’s not always pretty, especially when you have an unhappy customer on your hands.

But when you work in customer service, you also get the satisfaction of solving someone’s problems or helping them find the ideal product that solves their issue. Nothing is quite like the feeling of knowing that your smile and willingness to help, even if forced, made someone’s day when they were struggling. It’s the small things like this that help bring passion to your work.

Part of bringing creativity into your work is figuring out what aspects can and cannot change. In customer service, there are always similar expectations you must follow - be courteous, efficient, and knowledgeable about your industry. Even though those things don’t change, the way you perform them can!

Part of bringing creativity into your work is figuring out what aspects can and cannot change.

The other part is figuring out what you’re passionate about. If you don’t love your work, what do you like to do? And how can you connect that interest to your job?

It all boils down to four main questions:

What makes you feel good about your work?

Why do you do this work?

What do you love to do?

Where do your work & passions overlap?

Even if your only answer is that you do this work to pay the bills, you can still have a positive attitude about it. There are always ways to bridge the gap between what you love to do and what you actually do. The trick is figuring out what elements they have in common.

When you know what your passion and work have in common, you can begin bringing that passion to your work.

NOTE: If you can’t find anything positive or none of your passions overlap with your work, it might be time to consider a career change.

Doing Work You Love

If you’re fortunate to like, or even love, what you do, you probably had an easy time figuring out where your passions and work overlap. For instance, if you enjoy customer-oriented jobs, perhaps you are in a role where you can serve customers with the skills you have, like a corporate trainer role.

There will obviously still be some uncomfortable pieces, but if you are a trainer, you probably enjoy working closely with others, learning new things, and sharing your knowledge and passion with others. These are all very fulfilling aspects of a role like this, and make it easier to like what you do.

Even jobs you like can get tedious sometimes, though, so it’s still important to critically analyze what you do and the aspects you like.

Even jobs you like can get tedious sometimes, though, so it’s still important to critically analyze what you do and the aspects you like. It’s also important to look at the shortcomings, because it’s often these that make for frustration at work.

Ask yourself these four questions:

What about this work makes you feel good?

Why do you continue to do this work?

Where do your passions intersect with your work?

How could you enjoy your work even more?

Sometimes change isn’t always about finding a whole new job or figuring out a completely new system or organization. The best change usually comes from maximizing what you love to do and combining it with aspects a job you enjoy.

Even when you love what you do, it’s important to think about the ways your passions overlap your work and areas that could be improved.

NOTE: No job is “perfect,” even if it’s an amazing opportunity. Even when you love what you do, it’s important to think about the ways your passions overlap your work and areas that could be improved.

Step 4: Add Creativity to Your Work

The final step is implementing strategies into your work life to capitalize on your creativity.

You have arrived! You’ve figured out all the important things you need to know about your job, and the ways your work overlaps with what you love to do. This is hard work, so give yourself a hand!

The final step is implementing strategies into your work life to capitalize on your creativity. Not every strategy will work for every person, and don’t feel the need to rush out and try all of them at once. It will probably be overwhelming if you suddenly change every aspect of your job all at once!

Here are 5 Great Strategies to Try:

Play a Competitive Game Against Yourself

Great strategy for: people who love competition and like to keep things light at work

Basis of this idea: Set mini-targets that challenge you do complete your work to the best of your ability on a specific timeline. Even if the mini-target is something like completing required paperwork 15 minutes faster or seeing how many emails you can appropriately respond to in 30 minutes, set yourself targets you can get to if you give it your best.

By making it a little competition with a reward for meeting your targets, you can realign your energy with your goals in a more productive way.

Then, give yourself a small reward for getting to the target. Short walks are a great reward, as are 5 minute phone game breaks (if you will be able to stop playing after those 5 minutes).

Creative Aspect: When you get into the comfort zone, simple things that eat up a lot of your time (like paperwork & email) can be a drain on your energy and enthusiasm. By making it a little competition with a reward for meeting your targets, you can realign your energy with your goals in a more productive way. Not only that, but if you set your targets high, you might have to figure out a new or more efficient system to meet the goal.

Imagine the Ideal Version of Your Job

Great strategy for: People who work at a job they dislike so much that they have a hard time rolling out of bed in the morning

Basis of this idea: Taking focus off the job you dislike and reusing that energy to create a positive image in your mind. Consider these questions:

What would I like my job to be? What’s missing?

How could I add what’s missing?

Part of figuring out how to make your job better is identifying what you don’t like about it in the first place. If you can think critically about these things and use your imagination to picture the ideal version of your job, you can begin to make the actual job a little better - a little more like your ideal picture.

Part of figuring out how to make your job better is identifying what you don’t like about it in the first place.

Creative Aspect: If you really dislike your job, it will take some imagination and effort to generate an image where you wouldn’t be miserable. When you are able to create that image, you will have to use your creativity to figure out ways to start making the real job more like the ideal, especially if you work in a place with strict policies & procedures.

Do Something You’re Passionate About

Great strategy for: People who are bored or don’t really like their job (but aren’t necessarily miserable)

Basis of this idea: Scheduling time to do things you’re passionate about will increase productivity during the time when you’re working on parts you don’t like. If you have a job where you schedule meetings and use a calendar, look at your week and block some time to do something you’re passionate about.

You will be amazed at how just a short time thinking about something you love will give you vigor and increase productivity.

This could be a half hour per day, an hour three times a week, or even a longer two hour period one day per week. Whatever time you know you can dedicate without interruption. If you are in an active job where you don’t have meetings and calendar events, use your lunch, even if it’s just 15-30 minutes to focus on the thing you love doing.

Creative Aspect: You are at work, and if you don’t have any down time or you have a strict set of time-keeping or regulations, scheduling time can be tricky. You will have to get creative about how you focus on your passion; however, you will be amazed at how just a short time thinking about something you love will give you vigor and increase productivity.

Revamp Your Organizational System or Get a New One

Great strategy for: People who feel overwhelmed, overworked, or just want a change of pace in daily work life

Basis of this idea: Changing your organization system can give you new energy and change your workflow just enough to keep things interesting. You will first have to figure out what kind of organization you use - do you file documents? Schedule meetings? Correspond with clients? And how do you do those things? What keeps your work on track and ensures you can find what you need to find?

Changing your organization system can give you new energy and change your workflow just enough to keep things interesting.

Once you look at what you do now, think about what could be better. Do you need a more efficient system for filing data and paperwork? Or maybe you don’t really have a system and need to figure out how to better prioritize the tasks you already have. Either way, figure out a systematic way to complete your tasks. This can help keep you engaged at work

Creative Aspect: If you have a ton of tasks or you inherited a specific type of organization, it can be hard to “buck the system” so to speak. Not all management loves to have employees change their workflow. If this is true of your company, you will have to get creative about the ways in which you can improve your workflow while still following the rules.

Have Lunch with Someone New

Great strategy for: Everyone

Basis of this idea: Networking is always beneficial, and hearing other perspectives about your company can change your own. It’s never a bad thing to have a friend at work, so if you see someone in your department or when you come in to work every day, ask them to have lunch!

Co-workers will probably be surprised (and delighted) you asked them to lunch.

You don’t know how this friendship will help you, but it could lead to promotions or other job offers. It’s also helpful to hear about other parts of your company and even other perspectives about your department from someone else who has different circumstances

Creative Aspect: If you’re a shy person, you might be afraid to ask someone to eat lunch with you. Others also have their lunchtime routine, just like you do. You will have to get creative about the ways you begin to build relationships at work and even the ways you ask your coworkers to lunch! They will probably be surprised (and delighted) you asked.

Make Time to Learn

Great strategy for: Everyone

Basis of this idea: We grow when we learn, so it stands to reason that making time to learn would be a helpful activity to do at work. Investigate your company’s learning management system (LMS) to see what’s available to you through work. This could be online learning, virtual classes, or even seminars.

We grow when we learn, so it stands to reason that making time to learn would be a helpful activity to do at work.

Choose something that interests you, even if you don’t think it’s directly related to your job. Bonus points if you find something you’re interested in that will directly benefit your work! Block off time on your calendar, or on breaks/at lunch, to work through that learning

Creative Aspect: The time component can be tricky to schedule, if you’re at a job without much down time; however, some companies also don’t really encourage personal learning at work unless it’s directly related to what you do. This makes it difficult to gain new skills.

Some companies also make employees request learning rather than opening it up to everyone at the company, which means it could get denied. If this is your company, you will have to get creative about how you rationalize use of work time and resources to learn about personal interests.

These are strategies I’ve used to bring creativity to my work, but I’d love to hear about yours! What experiences have you had with creativity in the workplace? Or how have you overcome lack of creativity in your job? Drop a comment below or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com!

4 Easy Steps to Increase Creativity at Work