Every job comes with its own repetitive, mind-numbing tasks, but it’s those moments when you get to try new things and challenge yourself that really make a job enjoyable. 

No matter what industry you’re in, being able to stretch yourself and your abilities will always bring a sense of satisfaction – something that is key to maintaining your wellbeing at work.

But mixing things up at work isn’t always easy, especially if you’ve been in your role for a long time. So how can you go about making things more interesting and varied? If you’re not sure, then honing your creativity could be a great place to start.

Not only is creativity a useful tool for solving workplace problems, but it’s also a fun way to help you think outside the box. For example, while being creative may not help you to process all the data for that all-important report, it can help you think of ways to make it more engaging – and perhaps even give you an idea for new ways to present that data in the long run.  

“Creativity, like ‘soft skills’ training, is often seen as having a poor relationship with work and business, even though we recognise on a wider scale the part creativity plays in shaping our world and the creation of essential products and services we now take for granted,” explains Marilyn Devonish, a life and executive coach who has been running corporate creativity sessions since 2003.

According to Devonish, some of the benefits of taking a creative approach at work include better problem solving, more rounded decision making and access to new ideas and perspectives – but that’s just the start. 

“Creative thinking, by its very nature, causes you to think ‘outside the box’ and approach situations differently,” she says. “Einstein [reportedly] said we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking we used when we created them. Part of my interpretation of that is moving out of pure analysis and approaching the problem at a different level and perspective. Creating thinking allows you to do exactly that.”

Of course, tapping into your creative side can be far from straightforward – especially if you haven’t flexed that part of your brain for a while. But with the help of a few simple tips and tricks, you can start introducing more creativity into your work and reaping the benefits it brings.

To give you the tools you need to start, we asked a group of experts to share their advice for becoming more creative at work. Here’s what they had to say. 

1. Mix up your meetings

If you’re a leader looking for ways to introduce more opportunities for your team to get creative at work, simply changing up the way you conduct meetings could make a world of difference.

That’s according to life and career coach Vicki Bahra, who says taking a break from routine can help to provide space for more creative thinking.

“Creative meetings ideally bring people out of their comfort zone a bit,” she explains. “For example, you could change the environment so it’s not everyone sitting around a table. That way, people will be able to use more of their intuition and feeling over thinking and logic.” 

2. Build an ocean of ideas

While some jobs will require you to come up with ideas all the time, others may not – and it’s in these industries where forcing yourself to come up with new ideas (however random) could help to foster your sense of creativity.

“Some of the most successful people in the world come up with ideas regularly and are not afraid to experiment,” explains Loretta Milan, an award-winning marketing expert and founder of Origineur. “Challenge yourself to come up with three new ideas a week and write them down.”

Milan explains that it doesn’t matter whether your ideas are practical or what they focus on – they simply need to be ideas for new ways of thinking, doing or working that pop up in your head.

“You don’t have to implement them all and crazy ideas push our perceptions of what’s possible, encouraging us to stretch ourselves,” she says.

“When you have an ocean of ideas, you have a greater chance of finding a pearl. And you could be the very person who comes up with the bright idea that solves an important problem for your company. That’s not just great for business but could be great for your career too.” 

3. Practice the ‘say yes’ game 

If you really want to push yourself out of the box, a great place to start is the ‘say yes’ game, suggests Jessica Shaw, the director of Pact Creative Training, which helps companies to support their employees’ wellbeing and connection at work using creativity and playfulness.

“This exercise is all about accepting your own and other people’s ideas and daring to let your imagination run wild, and it can be done as a pair or on your own,” she explains.

“It’s pretty simple – think of the most ridiculous thing you could do right now. Imagine it really happening, then imagine what you would do next. Use the things you see around you to embellish this.”

If you’re doing this exercise with someone else, Shaw recommends taking it in turn to form a chain of wild activities, each more outlandish than the other.

“Notice the temptation to write off your own or other’s ideas for being silly,” she adds. “In this exercise, we take ideas to their most ridiculous extreme because if we can do that, we can make bolder suggestions in meetings or dare to make a change in the way we do things.”

She continues: “Notice how you feel during the activity and after – does it help you to feel more like saying yes or even, ‘Why not?’ during other parts of your day?” 

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