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Seven Creativity-Boosting Strategies for Writers, Creatives, and Leaders

Give your creativity a pick-me-up with these powerful strategies for ideas and innovation.

New students

Writing

Ideation

Thought Leadership

Amaia

Arana

Performance Faculty

minute read

Published on

May 4, 2026

A leader at CORE | The Breakthrough experience uses one HEROIC content-creation strategy to brainstorm and organize ideas for his presentation.

Ever feel like you're in a creative funk? Perhaps you’ve felt less motivated to work towards your creative projects. Or maybe you try to produce ideas, but come up blank. You feel stuck—and it’s frustrating.

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It happens to all of us.

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Somewhere along our creative journeys, our idea tanks start to run out of fuel. Sometimes it’s because we’re burnt out from using a lot of creative energy. Other times, the stressors of life affect our ability to create and innovate.

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But don’t worry. Your peak creativity, your best ideas, your ability to come up with new solutions—they’re still there, you just have to uncover them.

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Creativity is a skill and practice that must be developed, an energy that must be nurtured. Whether you have a new project on the horizon, or just want to open your mind to new creative ideas, these seven creativity-boosting strategies can help revamp your creative energy and prepare you for what’s next.

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#1 Try Creative Cross-Training

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Cross-training is when athletes practice a sport or exercise unrelated to their primary sport with the goal of improving their performance in their area of focus. For example, a long-distance runner might also swim laps or practice rowing to improve aerobic capacity while avoiding overstraining their primary running muscles.

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You can do something similar for your brain to improve creativity. Whatever your current creative endeavor, try a different creative activity that’s adjacent to your primary focus. You might:

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Take a painting, pottery, or drawing class.
Participate in a poetry slam.
Try a new recipe or take a cooking class.
Read a book from a genre you’ve never read before.
Learn how to play an instrument.

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Trying unfamiliar or new creative activities can help you unlock new ideas, express yourself in a unique way, and stretch your creative muscles.

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#2 Apply Constraints

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Sometimes a project comes with creative constraints built-in: a deadline, budget, design, or structural rule. For other projects, like writing a book, making a video, or crafting a speech, you might not have strict, built-in limitations. In those cases, it can be helpful to create your own. Here are a few examples:

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Limit a story (or any piece of written content) to a certain amount of words.
Write poetry within a specific structure (like a sonnet, haiku, or limerick).
Use focused writing prompts to help get your creative juices flowing.
Set a timer for ten minutes—practicing creativity in quick sprints can feel less daunting; it’s a simple way to get started if you’re feeling overwhelmed.

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While at first you might feel that this limits your ability to create, these boundaries can actually stimulate new creative strategies, prevent decision fatigue, and increase originality.

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Creative constraints are the box you’re forced to create within. But ultimately, you decide if you need to take the leap outside of the box.

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#3 Use Sticky Notes

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At CORE | The Breakthrough Experience, a high-level communication training, we introduce leaders to a content-creation process that begins with a brain dump and a lot of sticky notes. This method is extremely effective for organizing content and finding new ideas.

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Try it yourself: grab a stack of sticky notes and a pen. Choose one specific project you’re working on—perhaps a chapter of a book, a podcast episode, a TEDx talk, or a blog post. Then get your ideas down on paper; write down one possible chunk of content per sticky note.

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You’re not writing entire stories, intros, or sections of content—just the idea behind it. (For example: “story about Michelle Obama” or “man in the arena quote.”) Write enough to jog your memory later on when you organize your sticky notes.

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Writing down every possible idea—without judging them, crumpling up sticky notes, or throwing them away—enhances creativity and helps you embrace spontaneous ideas. While you might not use all of them in your final product, having a large well of ideas to choose from can make creation much easier.

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(And that’s just step one of the HEROIC content-creation process. Apply for CORE | The Breakthrough Experience today to learn what comes next alongside leaders, innovators, and fellow creatives.)

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#4 Let Yourself Be Bored

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Now, this might sound like we’re hopping on the “dopamine detox” trend that’s popping up all over social media, but there is some science behind the benefits of boredom. You see, overstimulation is dangerous for your creativity. Sometimes an overload of ideas is just as paralyzing as a shortage of them.

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Studies have shown that boredom can prime your brain for creativity. When you let your mind wander, you open the door to new insights and creative thoughts. So next time you’re waiting in line, stuck in traffic, or on a walk, put your phone away, cut the audio, and let yourself feel 100% bored. Your next big creative idea might be waiting for you.

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However, it’s important to note that this might not work for everyone. Researchers found that people who were learning-oriented, open-minded, and had a strong sense of responsibility and agency benefited most.

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#5 Collaborate With Fellow Creatives

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Here at HEROIC, we often say “we can do more together than we can alone.” It’s no surprise that creativity thrives when people come together, connect, and share unique ideas. Researcher Paul Gardiner said, “Creativity is a social, rather than individual, phenomenon.”

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Collaborating with other leaders with diverse perspectives and creative styles can help spark new ideas and combinations you might not have achieved on your own. Collaboration can be something as simple as:

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A coffee date with a friend at your local cafe.
A virtual call to discuss a question or share ideas about a pressing issue.
A private rehearsal to present your message and get specific feedback.

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When you choose who to include in your creative circle, remember the power of cross-pollination: ideas from an unrelated field can inspire powerful innovation in your unique field.

#6 Avoid the Blank Page

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For a lot of creatives, getting started is the hardest part. Whether you’re writing a piece of content, creating a new podcast episode, or crafting a new business proposal, that blank page can scare off inspiration, confidence, and ideas.

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But there’s a simple solution. Don’t start with a blank page. Always start with something. It might be an outline for what you’re going to write, a copied-down writing prompt, a few images that represent what you’re going to create, or even a quote, teaching point, or statistic you’ll include in your work.

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Even just writing down, “This is how I wouldn’t start this piece,” followed by a very rough intro can be enough to jump-start your creative process. It’s easier to edit something (no matter how rough it is) than create something from nothing.

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#7 Fill Your Creative Well

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Your creative energy, like a battery, can become depleted, requiring maintenance and time to recharge. That’s why, after an exhaustive project, a stressful day, or a period of time devoid of artistic endeavors, you might feel less creative than usual.

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You can recharge your creative battery and fill the well by doing things like:

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Connecting with nature—a hike in the forest, cloud-watching from your window, and appreciating our beautiful earth can reignite your creativity.
Moving your body—take a short walk, go for a swim, or put some music on and dance. Moving your body can spark creative ideas.
Appreciating other forms of art—visiting a museum, watching a play, or going to a concert lights up different areas of your brain and opens your mind to creativity.

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Creativity is something that must be nurtured and cared for. To enjoy peak creativity in your work, passion projects, and life, you must keep your creative well healthy and full.

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Enhance Your Creativity and Inspire Brilliant New Ideas

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The seven strategies that you’ve discovered here will not guarantee that every idea you come up with will be brilliant (I know, shocking). In fact, a lot of your new ideas might not make the final cut for your next big project or message.

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But every idea is a stepping stone.

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Some ideas will take you down a new creative path you wouldn’t have otherwise explored. Others will be the spark that lights up the idea—the one that becomes your Core Message, slogan, or mission statement.

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Above all, remember that creativity thrives in environments, attitudes, and people who embrace a sense of play. It’s not about forcing yourself to be more creative, it’s about discovering your hidden creativity. If you beat yourself up about it, or approach the creative task at hand as something that needs to be “muscled through,” the harder it will be.

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The beautiful thing about creativity is that we can’t control it. We can’t demand new ideas, or summon them from the clouds. They come like waves—sometimes when we least expect them.

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It’s up to you to decide whether you let them pass by… Or paddle out, catch the wave, and see where it leads.

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The Breakthrough Experience

This two-day event is more than just a typical communications training. It’s your inspirational, creative boost that will open your eyes to what’s truly possible for you.

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#3 Use Sticky Notes

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(And that’s just step one of the HEROIC content-creation process. Apply for CORE | The Breakthrough Experience today to learn what comes next alongside leaders, innovators, and fellow creatives.)

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#4 Let Yourself Be Bored

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Dont

#5 Collaborate With Fellow Creatives

‍

A coffee date with a friend at your local cafe.
A virtual call to discuss a question or share ideas about a pressing issue.
A private rehearsal to present your message and get specific feedback.

‍

When you choose who to include in your creative circle, remember the power of cross-pollination: ideas from an unrelated field can inspire powerful innovation in your unique field.

#6 Avoid the Blank Page

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#7 Fill Your Creative Well

‍

You can recharge your creative battery and fill the well by doing things like:

‍

Connecting with nature—a hike in the forest, cloud-watching from your window, and appreciating our beautiful earth can reignite your creativity.
Moving your body—take a short walk, go for a swim, or put some music on and dance. Moving your body can spark creative ideas.
Appreciating other forms of art—visiting a museum, watching a play, or going to a concert lights up different areas of your brain and opens your mind to creativity.

‍

Creativity is something that must be nurtured and cared for. To enjoy peak creativity in your work, passion projects, and life, you must keep your creative well healthy and full.

‍

Enhance Your Creativity and Inspire Brilliant New Ideas

‍

But every idea is a stepping stone.

‍

The beautiful thing about creativity is that we can’t control it. We can’t demand new ideas, or summon them from the clouds. They come like waves—sometimes when we least expect them.

‍

It’s up to you to decide whether you let them pass by… Or paddle out, catch the wave, and see where it leads.

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