20 Sparks to Creatively Rethink Skills and Career (and prepare to be amazed!)

Creatively Rethink Skills and Career
How can you meet the new year head on? With novel ideas & a fresh perspective? Or even a creative viewpoint? Maybe even rethink skills, career and beyond.

It’s a new day and  there’s much to be done – plan, act, schedule, conclude etc. Is there even room for creativity in your work?

Like they say, our work lives are busy, amplified.

Amidst it all, there are times one yearns that creative inspiration be served and we need not seek. That the new day be better and bigger and we meet it head on with new ideas and a fresh perspective.

With that in mind, while you frantically prep and go about your days, find below a road map for an occasional creative pause. With these ideas for personal development, rejuvenate your soft skills, problem solving and learning aspirations to start anew with a charged mind!

How can you be more creative?

These bite sized recommendations will challenge you to tread unexplored pathways, expand your horizon and think differently. Use them in the way that suits your purpose, to ignite that creative spark.

“Your spark can become a flame and change everything.”- E.D. Nixon

Rethink skills, career and beyond – exercises for any time of the year

1. Read and not supersede

Beyond Netflix, try binge reading for a change. Even more, take on a different genre altogether. Free Audiobooks and ebooks ensure that you can Creatively Rethink Skills and Career by adding new ideas from others.easily experiment and see what catches your fancy. If you are pressed for time, use a fast-track route to learning with bite sized insights on any book (in audio or text) to enable you to read up to 4 non-fiction books in a day.

Need recommendations? Start with these thought provoking non-fiction stories that take on women’s issues with a twist. Curl up with What She Ate and reflect on how food touches every aspect of your life or read Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too loud to see how high-profile, successful women persist despite the vicious social judgement they face.

Who knows, someday in the future, you might co-develop the book of your dreams or influence the outcome by being immersed in one.

Also Read 22 books to get savvy with business, brand and money!

2. Let Music enhance your work

Studies show that a moderate level of ambient noise enhances performance on creative tasks.

Experiment with new music while working to take you beyond your comfort playlists. Swap or investigate the music preferred by someone you look up to. Spotify’s Friend Activity for example shows the listening activity of any friends or public profiles (including brands and celebrities) that you follow.

To get energized, listen to Hans Zimmer, the father of integrating the electronic musical world with traditional orchestral arrangements or George Winston on piano for some elevated melodies.

If information put musically helps you recall better, why not adapt your elevator pitch to some? Or sing your way to a new language by using its pop songs to improve your recall, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.

Better yet, grab an instrument. I recently took on guitar lessons and the creative energy released every time you finally conquer a chord is unbeatable.

3. Hear Speakers speak their craft

The breakfast lecture series by Creative Mornings, allows you to both attend a talk or watch them online. With themes like Empathy, Humility, Beyond, Revolution etc, these talks inspire you to question every existing belief and practice.

Discover and connect with local talent at Tedx events, TED-style events to spark deep conversations and connections at the local level. Or even better, aspire and aim to speak at one.

Also read More than Public Speaking – What I learnt doing a TED talk

4. Watch with a storyteller’s eye

Whether it’s a short video on a creativepreneur  who’s incredibly passionate about what he does, or an animated clip to egg us to to look up from our gadgets and be present, discover, and initiate conversations with short, yet powerful videos.  

Easily watched and shared along with friends, family and colleagues, sometimes videos can convey what words can’t.

Have a thought to share? Start with creating your own stop motion message with 

just a smartphone.

Also watch these Short Clips, Big on Learning!

5. Skill up with a Girls Night Out Learning

GNOL– a fancy term for something you probably already do. Think about it. Who better to pick up a new skill than a girlfriend to keep you motivated and on track? Whether it’s a Public Speaking Class or setting up an online store with Shopify or a stocks course on stocks, all for free, some things have a higher chance of fruition with a friend alongside.

Read fabulous ideas to Skill Up with a Girls Night Out Learning!

6. Create with your hand (sans gadget)

Challenge yourself to build something out of the everyday objects. It increases your hand-eye coordination and gives you a unique sense of pride and ownership over something tangible. Use reusable construction tools to build something out of everyday cardboard, like a desk organiser or a 3D sculpture, DIY a pop up card or doodle away with some hand lettering or Zentangles. Or let Simone Giertz  convince you in this awesome, fun TED talk on why you should build useless things.

When you rethink your skills in a different light, your career will follow suit.

As a designer, my work has increasingly moved to digital and getting my hands dirty has become a rarity. That’s why I jumped at the chance to participate in an introductory local woodworking class. Here’s a picture of my proud creation. With the right tools, guidance and attitude, it took a novice like me a little over 2 hours to complete this project.

Creatively Rethink Skills and Career. A chopping board made in a woodworking class!7. Clean and purge one at a time (in time bursts)

The positive effect of organized things is hypnotic. Being structured induces calmness while clutter adds to both mental and physical baggage. We all know it, yet we rarely get around to claiming those 5 minutes required to organize a desk.

Set a timer for yourself everyday and challenge yourself to 5 minutes of organization. Rethink your filing system, reorganize your phone apps or unsubscribe from the emails that cause overwhelm. Look back after a few days and joyfully see how it all adds up.

Free guide to digital organization. Business tools and freebies on Maroon Oak

Download these 5 simple steps to organizing your digital drives and emails to save you time!

Peek inside the KonMari Method of tidying up, with this insightful show. On days when you need a bit more push, Things organized neatly will inspire your visual senses with no item out of place images. It might even get you to start your own knolling- a process of arranging related objects in parallel or 90-degree angles as a method of organization.

Organize and then explore these great ways to make your workspace even more creative!

8. Use friendly tech to tackle stress

Too much work? Too little time? Lack of self discipline? Ever feel like bundling up the stuff that’s bothering you and flinging it far away. With Pixel Thoughts, not only can you watch it fade away into the universe, but you do it to the tune of relaxing music and words that remind you that it will all be better. This 60 second meditation tool will make you smile.

Need something more? Explore the possibilities guided meditation offers you. A beautifully designed mindfulness app like Headspace has cool and fun graphics, that alone are worth your time.

Watch these quick and Simple Tips to Manage Stress!

9. Imagine an undiscovered color

It could yet be named after you or someday, robots might take that job.

Why not step out of your league and experiment with wearing a new color?

Why? Because getting uncomfortable in a situation is a great way to grow and save yourself from settling. Wearing a color you don’t like gives you a sneak peek into being uncomfortable in the public eye and hones your discomfort skills. Try it if you dare and see what the experience taught you about yourself.

Also watch How to boost your Skills Creatively!

10. Laugh at yourself

Witty humor, the kind that clears the air, is hard to do well and so easy to mess up. Clever and well timed humor is a sure way of rising up the likeability ladder. So why not practice some self deprecating humor as a start.

Embrace creativity in your work with humor. Listen to what others say about you (that you don’t really appreciate) and then embrace that advice and make fun of it.

This was the toughest one for me and it’s a work in progress.

“Did I ever tell you how much I regret viewing Dora the Explorer with my kids? Now I have to repeat everything three times to be understood.”

I think I have a phone problem. When I’m checking my phone and my co-worker asks me to not be antisocial at the party, I go “What party?”

See, it’s a start!

Business tools and freebies marketplace- checklists, ebiooks, courses and more

The best Business tools and freebies- One Home! Explore now!

11. Develop your own mantra

Do you have an inspirational power phrase that you repeat to yourself. To propel you or to calm you? To improve your performance and focus?

When I started running seriously for the first time, it was not easy. Thirty seconds into an enthusiastic start, I would be questioning myself. So I developed a chant – “Walking is not an option.”  Even today, when I run half marathons, I might slow down to a jog but I never walk.

When things upset me, I also like to tell myself to “Move on. This too shall pass.”

The meditative “Om” is another power syllable my father always encouraged me to use – a way to silence the outside world and listen inwards.

Also read Lead your workday with 12 Efficiency Mantras!

Creatively Rethink Skills and Career

12. Be the Hero of the game

If you’ve ever played the board game of Life, you know what I mean. Take things up a notch with flashcard style prompt cards that help you unblock a Career crisis or lead you through a journey of self-knowledge with Know yourself.

13. Do the Verb

“If you want to be the noun, first do the verb.”- Austin Kleon 

“The lady with the endless ideas – Yesterday Designer and Entrepreneur Aditi Tandon initiated the award ceremony with her creative thinking and out of the box ideas to change the……….”

Write your celebrity bio the way that showcases your best. And then commit to doing an action that will take you there. Writing this blog is another brick in my wall.

14. Use the art of Collage

Bring life to your inner turmoil with poetry created using cut-out newspaper words or make a career vision board as a graphic representation of your dreams and aspirations. A prominently displayed visual work, is a fantastic way to have your ambitions stare at you everyday and initiate you to align your actions to match.

15. Make a wee green change

Turns out 37% of Americans are actually concerned about whether their ideas will make the world a better place.

A small green change doesn’t sound like much and that’s exactly the point. Every bit you do makes you feel better and helps our planet.

Initiate a carpool, mindfully turn off your gadgets when not in use, or buy reusable coffee mugs. Upcycled, recycled, repurposed – identify your buzzword, take it a step further and spread the eco-friendliness by investing in DIY green gifts.

16. Compound the positivity

The first spring blooms, the first snow of the season. Certain times of the year, there is serious magic in the air. 

Why not grow it?

Share a smile, do a good deed, offer a ride, promote a fellow career woman with a shout-out, testimonial or endorsement. It will leave two people feeling great that day!

Also read 4 Simple ways to Building a Positive Network

17. Commit to a Digital Detox

“Offline is the new Green”

Enlist your friends or family to devise a digital detox manifesto and reconnect with what really matters. You can create a digi-free space, turn off notifications, or even walk over to a colleague’s desk instead of texting. Some more ideas include sharing meals with no phone allowed. The add ideas and inputs from others to ensure a better likelihood of commitment.

unplug- do a digital detox18. Think back to the Future

You know that popular ask – what would you say to your 20 year old self? Why not twist it around and imagine yourself 20 years older and in a good place, where you have achieved what you wanted. What would you write to your present self?

19. Switch up your routine

Simple tweaks like getting up or going to bed a few minutes earlier can be game changers, because they add to your mental well being and time management skills. Shaking up the status quo can be fun too. For inspiration, discover new ideas to mix into your morning routine by reviewing over 260 routines of successful creatives.

Also Read 5 Key Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs!

Look for creative collaborations?

Meet Members. Hire and collaborate on Maroon Oak

20. Discover purpose in or beyond work

What do you believe in? What do you stand for? Is it a social cause that ignites you? A practice at work that bothers you? Do you like helping people?

Find the common ground between your strengths, what you like to do and what the world needs. Join a community or start your own – stand by and for something. Identify and initiate conversations over what moves you.

Final word: Rethink and re-image your career and skills

With the unlimited information we have an access to today, curiosity and creative exploration should be a mandate of the times. Imagination is not an exclusive domain of designers. Creativity resides in each one of us. How we choose to pull it forth is our mojo.

Mirror Mirror on the wall! YOU can be creative after all!

Contributor-Aditi Tandon
Aditi Tandon

You can’t use up creativity. The more you create, the more you have.

A Designer and Entrepreneur, Aditi graduated from a top design school and subsequently started her own design and merchandising business. Co-founder at Maroon Oak, she has over 17 years of business experience with Two Dotts, her design consulting company and an Etsy store which serves as an outlet for her gifts and patented product designs.

A mother to a teen and a tween, she enjoys running, dancing and raising her newest baby, a Bichon named Miltie.

Maroon Oak on LinkedIn

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15 Comments
  1. Jennifer 7 years ago

    These are so great for the start of the New Year! I especially love #2 and notice how music can help me get so much work done!

  2. Amanda 7 years ago

    Totally just added new stuff to the editing playlist! 😉

  3. Sheri 7 years ago

    Great suggestions, I find it hard to work without some sort of music in the background. Humour is so vital for all of us.

  4. Sarmistha Goswami 7 years ago

    Great tips to start a new year! I want to start reading again, something I have always wanted to start but never get the time.

  5. Jennifer L 7 years ago

    wonderful tips on boosting the mind. I love putting on different types of music depending on what im working on to get my creative juices flowing.

  6. eliza 7 years ago

    Inspiring and really a motivational post. I learned so much on your blog. Though its been my practice and truly love music when I try rethinking things – but I think I need GNOL. Sounds exciting.

  7. Indrani 7 years ago

    These are some great tips.
    Music helps me a lot. Laughing at yourself – it is quite hard to do that but I am learning.

  8. Katie 7 years ago

    Fantastic tips. I love your way of thinking, it is a very constructive, healthy mindset to be in! I agree with all of it lol x

  9. Laurence 7 years ago

    Nice posts. Actually I’ve listed my things to do next year. Ebook is one, and I need to contemplate more, haha.

  10. Komal 7 years ago

    # 7 and # 10 are my go to’s! All the tips are awesome though. I think it is important to live a healthy life and to not take yourself so seriously!

  11. Sincerely Ophelia 7 years ago

    this is amazing. Definitely sparked my insides to contemplate!

  12. May Arcenal 7 years ago

    This is a much needed read. I’m currently reviewing my 2017 to gear up for 2018 and I love every single bit of tips you’ve shared, especially the digital detox (or social media detox for me). 2018 is going to be a mindful, purposeful and intentional year for me.

  13. Suzanne Spiegoski 7 years ago

    I really loved this post! Thanks for the suggestions.

    xo,
    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannespiegoski.com

  14. Jenn 7 years ago

    I like all of your suggestions, especially putting in bursts and learning to laugh at yourself. Very valuable lessons!

  15. Niekartistiek 7 years ago

    This tips are so extremely helpful! Switching up your routine is probably my favorite out of them – it is such a good way of rethinking & seeing things from a different perspective. Thank you for sharing!

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