Year: 2010

It’s week three of the Mumpreneur Monday Challenge!

Weeks 1 and 2 have gone down really well, so if you’ve joined in don’t forget to leave me a comment to tell me how you got on. If you missed the previous Monday Challenges they were Promote Your Blog and Get Out There!

This week I’ve taken my inspiration from Business Plus Baby’s guest blogger Amelia Critchlow. Amelia’s an artist and workshop leader who blogs at 101 Bird Tales (fab blog, I really recommend going over there and having a look). Amelia really is making a living from being creative and that’s why she’s inspired this week’s challenge.

Recently I’ve got a bit bogged down in the logical, outcome-based side of business, so a quick read of Amelia’s blog was like a breath of fresh air for me.

True, you do need focus, planning and a firm grip on your finances to run a business. But if you lose your creativity you can get blinkered, miss opportunities and just stop enjoying what you’re doing.

So your challenge this week is to…

Get creative!

Here are some ways you could do this:

• Go for a walk

Splash in puddles, crunch in the leaves, blow away the cobwebs, feel the wind on your face.

• Be in the moment

Pick a time and just focus on where you are at that exact moment. Don’t think of the million things you need to get done before the end of the day, just pay attention to what is happening in that moment. You’ll notice things that would pass completely pass you by otherwise – perhaps that’s a feeling, perhaps something you can see, smell or touch.

• Do a creative activity you haven’t done since you were a child

Play doh, sew, make stuff out of cereal boxes… it’s up to you.

• Write whatever comes into your head

Sit down with a pen and paper and just write. Don’t think, don’t edit, just let the words flow.

• Paint like a kid instead of a grown up

Do an art or craft activity with your children but be a child, not an adult. Don’t supervise or teach, just get in there and have fun together.

• Something else?

Maybe this post has sparked another creative idea for you? Go and do it!

And after all that..

Has this task made you see you’ve got stuck in a routine? Or perhaps that you need to reconnect with why you started your business in the first place? Has it sparked some new ideas? Or maybe it has reminded you to have fun and take some time out?

I’ll leave you with a quote from 101 Bird Tales, which is taken from ‘How to be an artist’ by Michael Atavar

“It [creativity] doesn’t work to deadlines. It needs room to grow and that space can be a place of waiting. We assume that time on a bus, waiting for some-one to arrive, a train delayed is lost time. Perhaps it’s just the universe telling you that you need to do nothing.”

Please do leave me a comment to tell me how you got on!
photo credit: Siona Watson