Being innovative means having new ideas and doing new things that you haven’t done before as well as doing familiar things in different ways. Chances are, your work and your life are interconnected in many ways, which means that innovations in one will often carry over to the other.
Here are some ways that you can be more innovative in work and life.
1. Listen to podcasts.
Podcasts bring new thoughts and new ideas into your life (including your work). Rather than watching reruns of the same shows or watching movies over and over again, you can spend some of that time listening to a variety of podcasts on topics you find interesting, and identifying some ideas for innovative activities you can introduce into your work and life to keep things fresh and new.
2. Tackle old, routine tasks in new ways.
Some ways to approach routine tasks in new ways including driving to and from work by a different route, grocery shopping at a different store, or (for women) letting the lady at the department store do your makeup and see if you like how it comes out. It could be cooking several meals for the week at once instead of cooking every day. The possibilities are endless but will keep you thinking about your day in new ways.
3. Imagine how an admired person might do things.
Most people have others they admire. Imagining how someone you admire might do things differently may give you new ways of accomplishing tasks and lead to innovations you wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. This can be repeated as many times as there are people you admire, and may lead you to adopt new behaviors and methods permanently if they work well.
4. Flesh out some of those seemingly “crazy” ideas.
So-called crazy ideas have been responsible for most life-changing innovations like space travel, medical advances and electric cars. Following your crazy ideas to their logical conclusion can sometimes make you believe in them enough to take the next step toward making them a reality. Try to learn how to shut off the voice that always says things are impossible and spend a little more time dreaming about what just might be possible one day.
5. Take a class to expand your personal and professional horizons.
Taking a continuing education class can expose you to the newest and best ideas on a particular subject in a stimulating environment of your peers. In most cases, your instructor will be an expert in the subject with many years of experience that you will have access to, which will give you many new ideas and thoughts that you can use in your own work and/or life to improve it.
CCSU offers hundreds of continuing education courses that can bring innovative thoughts and actions into your work and life. For updates on upcoming courses and schedules, join the mailing list by contacting Christa Sterling at csterling@ccsu.edu.