4 Healthy Habits of Successful Creatives

Do you need inspiration or want to energize your day with healthy habits? Examining some of history’s most creative minds can help — let’s explore how famous achievers managed to do their best work thanks to these easy-to-replicate habits.

1. Finding Inspiration Everywhere

Tchaikovsky wrote in 1878: “A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.” Many people think they have to be in the right frame of mind or in the perfect atmosphere to get creative. But, look at J.K. Rowling, who famously wrote the first Harry Potter drafts on the back of a napkin while traveling on a train, sparking the imagination of children and adults across the globe.

2. Getting Enough Sleep

“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?” said Earnest Hemingway. While some folks think that creatives are night owls and do their best work even when tired, the reverse if often true. Getting enough sleep actually makes you more creative. Sleep resets your brain, making the connections that help you solve problems once you are awake, alert and back to work.

3. Knowing When to Take Breaks

Not all creative souls sleep through the night, however. Leonardo da Vinci preferred a different routine, stopping every four hours for a short power nap. This habit is also known as polyphasic sleep, an alternative sleeping schedule some creatives choose in order to get more done when they are awake.

4. Making Time for Meditation

This is not necessarily the type of meditation with oms and other chants. Rather, it is a simple rejection of daily stress by tuning the mind to focus solely on the present and whatever task is at hand. “Problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that created them,” said Albert Einstein — and he knew a thing or two about solving intellectual problems! 

If you like this post, share it with your creative friends and give them artistic inspiration to help guide them through the days and nights.