Maybe you just don't think of yourself as creative. Maybe you do and you've hit a dry spell. Maybe you do but you just can't seem to think how you could think creatively about your never ending list of action items (that's the creative term for "to-do" list).

Every creative thought you've had is basically a conglomeration of chemicals in your brain. Your occipital kicks in imagery, and your insula brings the emotion to it. Beauty translated to biology.

Some interesting statistics I found in Time magazine:

94% of Americans value creativity in others
91% say creativity is important in their personal life; 83% value it in their professional life
71% of people believe that it is driven by both nature and nurture
50% of creatives think in pictures
55% of the population believes that technology makes them more creative
62% say creativity is more important at work than they thought it would be when they were in school

How does all of this translate to your list of procrastinated action items?

Because, even if you have an amazing life, there are most likely still some things on that list that sound anything but inspiring. Even when you want to be full of action.

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic-Programming) believes that your brain takes a default route for every action it has at least taken once. That means that you tend to do the same thing the same way. It also means that you tend to have the same emotional response to the same situation. So to shake it up, you have to consciously choose a different response which gives you the opportunity to infuse it with creativity.

Example: You have a very long list of action items. Just looking at the list is making you tired because you know, there is no way that you can get it done. You feel deflated even before you start.

Organize your list by what you feel most inspired by.
The pick your first 3 most inspiring actions, and think about how you could do them differently, and do them more creatively, to make them even more inspiring.
If making things pretty or more interesting isn't your thing, make them work more efficiently or add whatever spice works for you. That is creativity!!

I am going to call AT&T now about the internet installation in which they underperformed. But first I am going to get out my box of crayons and some nice white paper to paint a pretty picture while I talk to them...

Happy Creativity Days!!