In the 1980s, musician Frank Zappa felt that he was going through a creative dry spell, so he came up with a plan.
Instead of getting up at the same time every morning, each day he rose one hour later than the day before.
This means that twelve days later, he was getting up at 8pm, having breakfast, working, eating lunch around 1am, going to sleep around noon, and getting up the next day at 9pm, and so one.
This behaviour pattern, he said, helped him come up with fresh ideas.
Of course, you don’t necessarily need to change your daily schedule to emulate Frank but see how you could possibly adjust your routines differently to shake up your life.
Find new ways to keep your creative mind active and flexible.
Discover a new route to work every day, or walk, or cycle, or skateboard instead.
Have lunch at a bus stop, a park or even at a gallery and not just your home or office.
Walk down streets you’ve never been down before. Stop and say hello to people you don’t know.
Experiment with new food. Wear different clothes. Listen to different music.
Move the furniture in your house around. Sit in a different position. Rearrange your home environment.
The idea is to get your brain working in as many different ways as possible, to shake off the shackles of the norm.
The aim is to kick the habit of what you’re used to as an artist.
Because highly habitual people don’t tend to have creative minds.
Therefore, think differently, invent interestingly.
The greater the uniformity, the greater the sameness.
The greater the change, the greater the difference.