How to be Creative

Many people have told me that they can't feel creative when stuck in a drab, gray cubicle for 8 hours at a time. Creativity can benefit EVERY job, but is especially tough when you work in a field like graphic design.

In an effort to enlighten the rest of you cubicle-dwellers, here are some examples of things I have done to lighten the mood and get creative juices flowing. (Yes, really.)

Draw little eyes on paper. Cut them out and glue them to your stapler. Name him. Talk to him. And when other people visit your cubicle, demand that THEY say hi to him. This works well with other office supplies, too.




Develop bizarre conspiracy theories. I actually made up a brochure about how corn was an evil alien substance that was bent on taking over the world and destroying humanity. It circulated the office for a while and people asked me if I was mentally ill. I'm not sure that I convinced them otherwise... I didn't try very hard.




Tell stupid jokes. What's green and looks like a bucket? A green bucket. What's brown and sticky? A stick. Things like that. And use lots of puns. People love to hate puns.

Insist that everyone at work call you by a different name for a day.

Spin around in your chair until you think you could throw up. Don't ACTUALLY throw up - people don't like that. But after all the blood has rushed to - or out of - your head, take a pencil and start brainstorming. It works.

Decorate your cubicle in odd ways.




I also like to say things at random and look expectantly at people as though waiting for them to respond. For example... "taco?" and "knob", which is more fun if pronounced phonetically - "kuh-nob." People will generally think that you are a harmless eccentric, which is great.

One time my boss gave me a hard time, so I crawled under my desk and told him that he was mean and I wasn't coming out until he went away. He went away. He looked confused, too.

After the "corn" incident I actually got called into a meeting with management. It went something like this:

Mgr: "Uh... some people are concerned about your obsession with corn. You know that it's really just a vegetable and that it can't take over the world, right?"

Me: "Yes. It was a joke."

Mgr: "Oh, ok. That's very funny. I'll let people know that they don't need to be concerned with your mental health."

Me: "Well, at least not as it pertains to CORN."

Good times! Remember, it is a "job", but you don't have to take it seriously! Your work will be better for it. ;)