I’m convinced everyone has the ability to be creative. It’s a skill that can be learned and needs to be practiced for you to get better. Just like many other things.
The way I like to practice is that on Fridays I try to break away from the regular programming and do something creative. Depending on how busy things are, I might take the full day, an afternoon, or even an hour if that’s all I can get. I try be consistent with it but it all depends on what’s going on and how much I get done in the week.
I also try keep it related to work but it doesn’t always have to be. These are some of the things I do:
- Take a problem I’m working on and start it over from scratch. I do my best to approach it from a completely different perspective and sometimes surprising things turn up.
- Use all the context I have gained over a period of time and redesign something I designed before.
- Switch to analogue. I spend most of my time on a computer working in a digital medium. I switch to pen and paper to use my hands.
- Fix bugs on our product. I shared recently how I find the problem solving aspect of coding creative.
- I visit a museum or go somewhere inspiring to work.
- Do any kind of writing.
- Meeting with friends or former colleagues to catch up and learn what they’re doing.