How To Organise Your Creative Space To Be More Creative

How you organise your creative space has a major impact on how freely you create. If you’re struck with an idea you just have to start work on, but then rush to your work space only to find a sea of materials, papers and miscellaneous ephemera piled a foot high, and your tools and equipment partially buried underneath and scattered around various other parts of the room, you’re not giving yourself much of a chance to create at your most freely.

Imagine an Olympic sprinter preparing for the final of the 100m. He’s going to want to be fully prepared, clothed, and warmed up physically and mentally so he can be at that starting line in the best possible position to perform at his best for the race.

You wouldn’t expect to see an athlete, 5 minutes before the race, still in the changing area, half clothed, desperately needing the bathroom, looking for a missing sock, and wishing he’d ironed his shorts as crumpled lycra isn’t the best look for an Olympic medallist!

You don’t have to be as flawlessly prepared as the Olympic athlete, but here are some top tips to get your creative space in order to allow you to create at your best:

1. Choose a comfortable place. First is to find a space to create that you’re going to find comfortable. Think about whether you’ll be mostly sitting or standing, how you need your materials laid out, how much space you need around you and so on. Many of us fortunate enough to have a spare room to use as a creative studio actually have it sitting unused, simply because it’s not set up in a way we find comfortable or conducive to creativity.
2. Decorate in a creativity-inducing way. This sounds superficial but it has a significant impact. Decorate your creative space in a way that inspires you. That might mean having the walls nearby a certain colour, maybe having favourite creativity quotes posted up, or inspiring artwork on display. Make it a place you love coming to and somewhere you feel energised to create.
3. Have your materials and equipment close to hand. You would think this was an obvious point, yet how many of us don’t have our tools, equipment and materials organised in a way that we can access them at a moment’s notice? If it takes you half an hour to find the brush, or pen or knife you need, your creative momentum will have up and left! There are so many storage options available these days, it’s easier than ever to get your materials in order.
4. Minimise external distractions. You can have the most calm, organised and inspiring creative space possible, but it’s no good if someone walks through it every two minutes, or there are phones nearby that keep ringing. Reduce external distractions as much as possible; tell people you’d appreciate not being disturbed for 30 minutes or so, and offer to return the courtesy to them when they want time alone.
5. Leave your creative space ready for the next time. Each time you come to your creative space, you want it to be in a state that allows you to get straight into creating. So when you leave, ensure you leave it tidy enough to return to creating easily. Of course there will be longer term projects that need to be out, but with a little thought you can do this and still have your main space ready to work on any other projects in between.

By following these 5 tips, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of being more creative in your work space.

Remember, crumpled lycra isn’t a Olympic Gold medal winning look! So pick one of the tips and start to implement it today!