People sometimes ask how creative professionals can sit down at a desk and turn on the ability to be funny, visualize solutions or come up with new ideas. It’s not magic—it’s a skill anyone can learn. You just need to know how to feed your brain and give it space to relax. Here’s what works for me.

Step away. Before I started writing this post, I poked around what other people did to spur their creativity. Some hilariously privileged folk suggested “travel” as a great way to spark ideas. If, like me, you generally can’t fit a trip to Santorini in your budget or timeline, you can keep it closer to home.

Stop forcing it and the next thing you know, you’ll have the answer.

There’s a reason people get their best ideas in the shower—and why I used to do my best concepting in a laundromat in Richmond. You’re relaxed and distraction-free. Staring at an empty page or screen is just likely to stress you out or send you down an Instagram rabbit hole. So have a nap, bake some brownies or yes—take a shower. Stop forcing it and the next thing you know, you’ll have the answer.

Go to a happy place. I’ve always found that browsing sites like My Modern Met or Fubiz can jog ideas loose. What does watching Robert Irwin exchange words with a naughty curlew have to do with generating concepts? Absolutely nothing. But the emotional uplift that comes from something heartwarming or funny definitely makes my mind feel more open and receptive and ready to work. Turns out, research backs this up. Sure, anger and irritation can charge you up, too—just not in a way that helps in most professional settings.

Take out the trash. Creatives’ biggest secret is volume. We don’t run with our first idea, or even our tenth. I love watching people in reality competitions say, “well, my first idea was this, so I committed to it.” No wonder they lose.

It’s possible that lightning strikes early now and then, but don’t think for a minute that Ansel Adams published every photo he took or that your favorite author hasn’t benefited from lots of editing. Look for inspiration online and off, capture lots of ideas, judgment-free, and then dump most of them.

If there were a fourth tip here, it would be to learn how to recognize and discard your lesser ideas. After all, if you keep everything from bad to good, you’re presenting work that averages out to a C grade. Keep just the A+ ideas, and you look like a star.

Looking for a breath of fresh creativity for your business? Reach out to FATFREE.