Creativity | Behavior Matters!

Tag: Creativity

Taking some time to recharge

I feel that it is important that we take time for ourselves to recharge.  When I say that, I mean more than just finding the ten minutes a day to have some quiet time or even an hour a day to exercise (although both of these things help).

I mean that we are able to fully disengage from our main line of work for a week.

I just did this – I took a vacation!

Yes, I checked in on e-mail a few times (and even posted here), but for the most part, I took the time off and enjoyed my family, relaxed, forgot about real life and absolutely enjoyed myself.

I recommend this to everyone.

I think it also:

  • Recharges us – coming back from vacation, I feel much more motivated to do work.  It feels new again.
  • Refocuses us – time off allows us to refocus our energies.  I think that it provides a perspective that allows us to better identify the important tasks that we need to do.  It helps us prioritize!
  • Enlarges us – we come back with new experiences that help us look at things differently and I would say more creatively.  We tend to grow in different ways while we are on vacation.  This gives us a broader
  • Encourages us – this time for ourselves makes us realize that work is an important part of who and what we are.  I tend to miss it when on vacation (or at least parts of it).
  • Reminds us – of the reason that we work – both the intrinsic aspects that make us appreciate the work we do as well as the extrinsic aspects that provide us the means to take a vacation.  It makes you realize that there is more to life than just work – but how important work is to our life.
  • Inspires us – I had the opportunity to spend a week with one of the nicest, most thoughtful, most resilient  people I’ve ever had the opportunity to  meet.  His life story and his attitude on life inspired me.  We get the opportunity when we take time off to be inspired by any number of different elements.
  • Connects us – to new people, new places, new ideas.  We come back from our time away with more connections that can serve us well in the upcoming days, months, years…

So make sure that you take time off to recharge yourself.  Make sure that you don’t shortchange your vacation, or miss it, or do too much work over it.  Remember…the time off is important to our overall motivation and well being!

I’m sure there are many more positive aspects to taking time off.  Please let us know your thoughts on this.

5 minutes and 20 Slides: A Cool Motivator!

What would happen if at your next team meeting instead of talking off of your typical status spreadsheets your team each gave their status update in 5 minutes and using 20 PowerPoint slides? 

I recently came across Ignite Phoenix through one of my crazy online searches.  It is a really neat concept for those looking for a creative spark and an innovative motivator. During Ignite Phoenix, a group of people gather together and witness 18 presentations on topics from horrible office coffee to what I learned from cows. Each of the presenters has 5 minutes and 20 PowerPoint slides to share their story. That is it. Short and sweet.

One of the organizers, Jeff Moriarty, introduces Ignite Phoenix #6 and provides the foundation for what it is all about. Their YouTube video area is fun to check out and it might just motivate you to come up with your own ignite presentation!

What story would you tell if you had 5 minutes and 20 slides?

Susan

If you know someone that might benefit from this article pay it forward and pass it along.

P.S. The other fun video to checkout is Slideshow Karaoke it is really creative!

Opposing Perspectives Inspire Creativity

Derek Sivers, from MuckWork presented at the TED Conference. The clip below shows a very poignant perspective on how one thing can be true in one part of the world and the opposite in another part of the world. The discovery is how to utilize opposing perspectives to spark creativity.

How would a current problem of yours look differently if you viewed it from the opposite perspective?

Susan

If you know someone who might benefit from this article pay it forward and pass it along.

Share

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén

Behavior Matters!