2024’s Most Useful Creative Life Hacks

January - it’s that time of year where we strive to put our best foot forward and reinforce a set of new habits for the coming year. For some, it's doing more exercise, for others it's all about practicing mindfulness, saving more money or quitting smoking. But whatever your resolutions are this year, we can all agree that creative people are always looking for new ways to inspire, motivate and influence their craft. So what better time than now to discover some creative life hacks that are keeping this industry fresh?

Speaking to LBB's Ben Conway, creatives from a global spread of agencies have shared the techniques they use to break out of their comfortable, creative grooves. It's the ideal resource, full of tips and tricks for a fresh start in 2024. Proving their wisdom are representatives from FCB, Ogilvy, McCann, GALE, PETERMAYER, Fold7, Recipe, Above+Beyond, and Unsaid Studio.

So what are you waiting for? Kick off the year with some new ways to open your imagination, and learn how to hack your creativity below!

Box Breathing

Thomas Mori, creative director at FCB New York

Calling all creatives in search of inspiration amidst the chaos! Let me introduce you to the concept of box breathing - a gem that can ignite your spark. Embrace the tranquil rhythm of inhaling, pausing, exhaling and finding stillness. To begin, expel all the air from your chest. Keep your lungs empty for a four-count hold. Then, inhale through the nose for four counts. Hold the air in your lungs for a four-count hold. Release the hold and exhale smoothly through your nose for four counts. Repeat this cycle for at least five minutes to make you alert and grounded, ready for action.

Burst the Bubble

Youmna Hazzaa, creative and art director at Recipe 

My main hack is: don't just hang out with people from your, or a similar industry. Go to things you don't want to go to. [It] sounds like torture but it's pretty good for rewiring the brain and killing your own ego.

Take a Walk

Dan Trimarchi, associate creative director and copywriter at McCann New York

I know what you’re thinking - who has time for that? Well, I’m here to say that some of my best ideas happen when I decide to stop slamming my head against the keyboard and go for a walk. Even people like Steve Jobs, Charles Dickens, and Ludwig van Beethoven walked for inspiration. And not only that, it's been proven to increase your creative output by an average of 60%. Are you too busy to increase your creative output by 60%? Didn’t think so. Take a walk, get inspired, make more creative things.

Balancing Humanity and Tech

Caleb Dawkins, art director at Ogilvy Chicago

Creativity is an unpredictable journey – at times ideas flow instantly and endlessly, and other times they’re slower to coalesce. If I’m feeling stuck, I have two tricks, depending on what I feel will be most helpful. I always begin by reaching out to a loved one - in my case, that is my mother. In fact, my first commercial concept originated from a problem she shared when opening a dirty front-load washer. A simple conversation can unlock a human truth and a big idea. The second approach is to use Midjourney, a new favourite tool. As an art director, I’ve found it to be an awesome additional asset to the art-and-copy duo - transforming the copywriter's words and my descriptors into visuals that exceed both of our expectations. Ultimately, technology has moved us forward, but there are moments that it simply cannot replace. In the creative process, it is increasingly becoming more essential to strike the right balance between both technology and human collaboration to achieve creative success.

Physical Engagement with Art

Doug Bello, co-founder and director at Unsaid Studio

This year, I encountered a surprisingly simple yet impactful creative hack. While recreating Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' for JetBlue, I stepped away from my usual digital tools and ventured into MoMA. There, in the presence of the actual painting, I gained insights that no online image could offer. This direct engagement with Van Gogh's work profoundly influenced the project, allowing me to craft a piece that resonated deeply. Thankfully, the client and the agency appreciated the effort. This experience was a humble reminder of the power of personal interaction with art, a lesson in seeking inspiration beyond the digital world. 

Keep Your Eyes Open

Olivia Ruffin, content creator at GALE

For me, I like to say that my whole life is part of the creative process (dramatic I know, but what creative isn't a little dramatic?). Outside of work, I create mixed media art pieces that are mostly comprised of once-loved goods, discarded junk and trash fluttering in the wind. I also enjoy going on long walks to discover new materials, always keeping my eyes open for art in every corner - and I find it, because it's everywhere! 

Getting Crafty

Artem Bjork, creative at Above+Beyond

After staring at a computer for nearly 40 hours a week, nothing gets my creative juices flowing better than doing something crafty with my hands. I’ve recently discovered pyrography - a fancy term for burning wood with a 700° hot pen. There’s something so primitive and mind-numbing about meticulously burning in each line, one by one. [It's] a rare opportunity to just sit and think without any external stimuli. It's a bit like meditation I suppose, where your mind gets to wander and think without a specific aim. Here, however, you’d best not get too distracted... your house might just turn into a surprise barbecue for the neighbourhood.

Shake Up That Routine

Michelle Edelman, CEO and CSO at PETERMAYER

Routines might make for efficiency, but sparks of creativity come when you shake up that routine. One of my favourite hacks is just changing the orientation of my desk. Facing a different direction in the room, as simple as it sounds, is just enough to change perspective. And a two-hour field trip to an environment where I can 'play consumer' is a great eye-opener. I drive a town away and shop for a fictional party at a brand new store and just talk to the shoppers there. If all else fails - dance it out! Just moving stirs everything up!

Alternative Inspiration

Simon Helm, head of art at Fold7

We all swim in the same sea of inspiration, from Pinterest to David Reviews. 

To avoid the ‘sea of same’, I go searching for alternative inspiration:

• A skate park - I watch my son decide in the moment, at the top of the half pipe, which trick to do. It’s creative instinct with zero overthink. I also watch other skaters do the same tricks with totally different styles, proving there’s infinite ways to solve the same problems. I want to charge into ideas like this – freestyle and spontaneous.
• Sneaker shopping - Sneakers are the most creative canvas these days; deconstruction, remixing, reinvention and complete disregard for rules.
• Musical clashes - Music that mashes up extreme opposites teaches me to experiment no matter how absurd it might seem at first.