Creative Routine
How to get inspired in your everyday life.
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As a designer and photographer I need to be creative all the time, we earn our creativity and inspiration through exceptional and special experiences, but how can we meet those raw moments in our everyday life?
Routine is something we mostly don't notice, we only “feel” the routine when we switch back to everyday life from an extremely different daily schedule.
For me the only opportunity to break through this routine for a while is to take holidays, go on a hike, make sports, whatever makes me feel alive.
But there are even people having routine in their holidays. I remember when my daddy took me on holidays, everyday was the same: Getting up, breakfasting, swimming, laying at the poolside, dressing up, dining, watching a show, sleeping. It made me sick. I didn't feel better after one week of “holidays” my dad payed a lot of money for. I felt even worse as I thought about how many things I could experience with that money.
From November 2013 to February 2014 I had no job or school, I was thinking about life, what I want to do next. In this few months I experienced so many things, without any routine. I got up, had a coffee, drove somewhere with the car, had no plans where to go, saw a pretty mountain, took my dog and camera hiked the whole day and felt incredibly alive.
A few weeks ago I started working again and the routine made me sick. So I decided to fight and my daily life became my most inspiring adventure. Here a few points how:
If you don't have any time for your own adventures, live other people’s adventures.
As I can’t go on my own adventures during the week, I replace them with reading about other people’s experiences. I get up at 7AM, take a shower, make good coffee and read for at least one hour. Currently I'm reading a really inspiring book about “Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey.
Walk as much as you can, if your office is only two stations with the train, take your feet and walk.
Since a few days I walk or drive with my penny board to the office. Also I stopped listening music on the ride / walk, this way I get way more creative input. Even people discussing about problems are inspiring.
Make things you ever wanted to do, even if you're scared.
Well, every time I saw somebody looked interesting to me, I wanted to take my camera and portray this person, but I was too scared to ask. A few days ago I finally decided to jump into the cold water, and the stories these people tell me are so incredibly interesting and inspiring. I have even talked to a guy who had been on a party with John F. Kennedy. I also learned to respect people I don't know more, everyone has it’s story to tell. Some of the photos will be on my Instagram soon.
You need to leave house to get inspired.
A few months ago I had contact with a guy calling himself an “introvert”. He is a young “freelance designer”.
We don't have contact anymore because I called him not introvert, just boring. What I want to say is, that you need to meet people and to go out if you want to get inspired. I started going to various meetups a few months ago, and it’s pretty inspiring to learn how other people think about things.
Hopefully I helped you bringing yourself some tips to make your routine more inspiring.
Would feel honored if you could spread the inspiration on twitter.
Best of luck!
