Santa Baby, Put A Macbook Under The Tree For Me – 10 Gifts For Creatives

Thought I would share a few of my favourite creative things – from my Xmas wish list and resources and goodies that I come back to time and time again. 

1. How To Do More Great Work, Michael Bungay Steiner around £7, Amazon. This book has been nicked from my training courses 3 times – that’s quite an endorsement! It’s a brilliant, practical guide to help you stop doing the busy work we’re all so guilty of and setting yourself a great work project that you can look back on with pride.

2. Creative Whack Pack, Roger Von Oech, around £15 the pack or £1.49 for the app. I use this for most brainstorms in one way or another – as a warm up exercise or as a series of useful, provocative questions to get the creative juices flowing. Great for ideation alone or in a group.

3. A subscription to Wired Mag, required reading for inspiration and brain food. I like an old-school hard copy for bath-time reading.

4. A ticket to creative heavyweights Punchdrunk’s amazing show The Drowned Man, a Hollywood Fable Tickets from £39.50 running until Feb 2014. We’re running a Storytelling Workshop with PD in December too!

5. A classic Moleskin, around £12. The notebook of creative thinkers used for two centuries: Hemingway, Vincent van Gogh, Picasso. There’s something solid and special about one. I buy a new one for each module of my MA and use my best handwriting.

6.If you can’t buy more time, make the best use of the time you have with a mindfulness app. The self-help activity du jour – mindfulness has been shown to help creativity (all those lovely alpha waves). Try the free Headspace app http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/how-to-meditate.aspx

7. Creative Mischief, Dave Trott, £7.99 Amazon. The perfect stocking filler, a little book of creative lovliness and inspiration by the ad legend.

8. Unleash Your Inner Creative Course – A half day of practical tools and techniques with yours truly to help you develop those kick ass ideas, £215 http://www.prca.org.uk/product.asp?cid=2&pid=2316

9. Lemon & jasmine scents have been found to enhance creativity. Lighting a candle also gives you a moment to reflect and focus. Try the fabulous-sounding Utopia candle from the School of Life £35 http://www.theschooloflife.com/shop/utopiacandlewalden/

10. Mini trampoline. Around £40. Because being creative is meant to be fun and you can’t be miserable on a trampoline.

Happy Christmas from all at Now Go Create!