Creative Marathon: Week 1 Training Schedule

It’s the first week of the Creative Marathon, and we know you’re in for the long haul (a new training schedule filled with creative exercises will be released every Monday for four weeks), but we’re going to ease into things to get those creative juices flowing, starting with a warm-up today.

It’s important to stay motivated and sometimes that requires finding a friend or co-worker with similar goals, such as reaching your maximum creative potential. If you’re a part of a team, involve everyone and watch what happens. You just may find that big idea you’ve been awaiting. Let’s get started.

• Tell other creatives what you’re doing on Twitter for extra support: I will complete @HOWBrand and @ZingZone ‘s Creative Marathon, starting today! http://howdesign.com/creativemarathon

Below are creative exercises from Sam Harrison, renowned author, speaker (Don’t miss him at the HOW Conference this year), creative enthusiast and for our purposes, The Coach.

Week One

Monday
Warm-Up. Grab a sheet of paper and pen. Check the clock. On “go,” spend three minutes rapidly filling the page with words and images — anything that pops in your head. Don’t lift pen from page, don’t stop to ponder. Whatever you’re thinking goes down on paper. Ready — GO!

OK, now that you’re done, search for patterns. Make connections with the thoughts, words and sketches on your page. Try connecting these patterns with projects you’re working on today.

Tuesday
Cross-Train. Try mixing verbal and visual skills. Study the lines below, then relax and let your mind make associations. Add letters to solve the puzzles.

Example: 12 — M o n t h s in a Y e a r

26 = L _ _ _ _ _ _ in the A _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7 = W_ _ _ _ _ _ of the W_ _ _ _
12 = S_ _ _ _ of the Z_ _ _ _ _
54 = C_ _ _ _ in a D_ _ _ (with J_ _ _ _ _)
1 = W_ _ _ _ on a U_ _ _ _ _ _ _
64 = S_ _ _ _ _ on a C_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Wednesday
Diet. Take a project you’re working on and try reducing or eliminating elements to arrive at a fresh, better solution. Assume elegance happens not when there’s nothing left to add, but when there’s nothing left to take away. Save muscle, trim fat.

Think of Apple products, Japanese cuisine, French films. What can you remove from your project to provide a strong, simple solution?

Thursday
Rest. Click to this site and then do absolutely nothing for two minutes. www.donothingfor2minutes.com

Friday
Personal Best. Ideas surge forward when we prevent judgment from blocking their pathways. Challenge yourself to go the distance today without judging ideas — not a single one. Don’t judge the ideas of others or those happening in your own head.

Write “DON’T JUDGE” or “DJ” on the back of your hand to remind you. Stop yourself before criticizing ideas from co-workers, friends and family. Don’t judge ideas you run across on the Internet or TV. Soak it all in. Bite your tongue. Say “yes” rather than “no.” Say “and” rather than “but.” And if you catch yourself blocking your own ideas, throw down a penalty flag. For the rest of the day, step out of the way and let creativity race toward the finish line.