3 Life Hacks I Use to Boost Creativity and Avoid Burnout

Often, we have to find our fuel elsewhere.

learn more about Vasily Voropaev

ByVasily Voropaev

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

作为企狗万官方业家,我们的思想通常是在匈牙利语t for creative ideas. Here are some life hacks I've found that have boosted my creativity and helped me with burnout.

1. Jedi Council

I don't know which is better — superficial, surface-level contacts with a bunch of random people versus a few deep connections with the ones that interest you the most. But I know that you need to communicate with different, diverse individuals and step out of the bubble which we all create for ourselves.

This is where the idea of a "Jedi Council" comes in. Once a week or two, call those who are interesting to you. Maybe you saw the person at a gathering in Moscow, or at a conference in Miami. But even if you've only met them once, they helped you to gather some new thoughts. Fortunately, you can just call and chat. You lose nothing because you call on your free time, but be open to gaining valuable insights and a different perspective.

Here are a couple of questions that help to get a constructive discussion going:

• Tell me the last project idea that came to your mind.

• If what you do for a living ceased to exist — what would you do then?

• What is the main issue in your work, which often infuriates you, but you have to do it.

Related:Why Your Creativity Is Your Most Valuable Skill

2.事故的计划

My brain, like the brain of any person, loves to invent habits for itself. Therefore, if you don't give yourself new challenges, your brain will turn your whole life into a habit and rot.

Therefore, sometimes I arrange weeks without habits for it — when I do not repeat anything that I did. I don't eat the same food, I don't buy the same beer but the funniest and most useful thing turned out to be changing my transportation habits. Instead of using the car, take the metro, go by bus, the next day call an Uber, then steal an electric scooter from a colleague and ride it. My brain has been revitalized through this experience shift.

Related:9 Ways to Rewire Your Brain for Creativity

3. Do nothing.

If you don't know what to do, do nothing. But really, nothing — do not deceive yourself. Don't scroll the Instagram feed, don't watch popcorn serials on Netflix, do absolutely nothing at all. Lie on the couch and stare at the ceiling.

Don't try to think about something or go through dialogues in your head. You are only allowed to look at different objects in the room (without thinking about them) and change the position to make yourself more comfortable.

Congratulations, you are meditating.

The secret is that in the end, you won't succeed. But your brain will be allowed to take a moment and breathe. And so many new thoughts will run into your head just to fill it up with something, anything. You will just have to get the most useful ones and write them down. That's what this time is for.

Related:3 Reasons Why Walking Boosts Creativity

Vasily Voropaev

CEO of Smartbrain.io

As CEO and founder of Smartbrain.io, Vasily Voropaev is a serial entrepreneur, business angel and pioneer of the Eastern Europe freelance and remote-work market.

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

One Founder's Super-Sized Side Hustle Is Helping Small Businesses— and It's On Track to Generate More Than $50 Million This Year
His Brush With Death Pushed Him to Leave Google's 'Moonshot Factory' andMake Brain-Reading Earbuds That Could Save Lives
3 Bad Habits Most Entrepreneurs Are Guilty Of— and the Simple Solution for Stopping
A 4th-Generation CEO RevealsHow to Avoid 'Succession''s All-Too-Real Dysfunction in Your Own Business— Family-Run or Not
Marketing

These Entrepreneurs Are Putting Ads Inside Your Fortune Cookie

OpenFortune's recent campaign has already gotten plenty of attention.

Business News

Ashton Kutcher Warns Companies to Embrace AI or 'You're Probably Going to Be Out of Business'

The actor-turned-entrepreneur said AI has the "potential" to instill a lasting impact on a variety of industries during a panel at the Milken Institute's Global Conference.

Business Ideas

3 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Spark Your Creativity

Brainstorming product ideas or new ways to pitch your company — AI can be a great help to decent into the state of creative flow.

Business News

FTC Says Facebook Violated 2020 Privacy Order, Proposes More Protections for Teens and Children

This is the third instance wherein the FTC says Facebook allegedly failed to protect user privacy.