The Weekly Creativity Workout
Train creative range with one private 30-minute practice each week.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
The Weekly Creativity Workout treats creativity as a trainable muscle rather than a talent reserved for artists. Pick any accessible medium—cooking, painting, photography, making, or another form—and practice for 30 minutes each week. Remove the pressure to publish, impress, or earn money so the session can remain messy and exploratory. The immediate process is noticing ideas, trying combinations, and staying with the activity long enough to enter a flow state. Repetition makes experimentation feel safer and strengthens the same flexible problem-solving capacity used at work and in daily life. The output is not necessarily a polished object; it is greater comfort with trying, revising, and making creative choices without waiting for external approval.
Origin
Morin connected adults' declining creative confidence to judgment and insecurity, then prescribed a small weekly practice to exercise creativity across any medium.
Core principles
- 01Creativity is a human capacity rather than an artistic identity.
- 02Creative ability strengthens through repeated use.
- 03Private, imperfect work reduces the judgment that blocks experimentation.
- 04The medium matters less than entering a playful flow state.
How to run it
- 1
Reject the artist label
Define creativity as making choices and solving problems, not as membership in an artistic profession. Identify ordinary places where you already create.
Pro tip Include cooking, styling, organizing, and workplace problem-solving in your inventory.
Watch out Do not use lack of formal training as evidence that you are not creative.
- 2
Choose a playful medium
Select one activity that invites curiosity and can begin with materials already available. Optimize for willingness to start rather than prestige.
Pro tip Change mediums whenever the practice starts feeling like an obligation.
Watch out A complicated setup can turn a small workout into another postponed project.
- 3
Protect 30 minutes
Schedule one uninterrupted session each week. Make the commitment small enough to repeat even during a busy week.
Pro tip Use the same recurring calendar slot until the habit becomes automatic.
Watch out Waiting for a large block of inspiration makes practice inconsistent.
- 4
Make without performing
Experiment privately and permit an ugly or unfinished result. Keep attention on the process instead of imagined reactions from other people.
Pro tip Decide before starting that nothing from the session has to be shared.
Watch out Turning every attempt into content can restore the judgment this practice is meant to remove.
- 5
Notice and repeat
After the session, note what created absorption, play, or unexpected choices. Repeat the conditions that helped and keep exploring.
Pro tip Track whether experimentation becomes easier, not whether each artifact improves.
Watch out Do not grade a creative workout as if it were a finished commission.
In the wild
Morin describes her husband and sons building houses and battleships from Lego without following the supplied instructions. The activity lets them combine parts, test structures, and follow ideas as they emerge rather than reproduce a predetermined result.
→ Open-ended play exercises creative choice and experimentation without requiring an artistic identity.
A manager reserves 30 minutes on Sunday to improvise one dish from ingredients already at home. The meal does not need to be photographed or served to guests; the purpose is to test combinations and recover comfort with uncertain outcomes.
→ The manager practices flexible experimentation in a low-stakes setting.
Common mistakes
Confusing creativity with art
A narrow artistic definition hides the creative decisions already present in work, home life, and problem-solving.
Performing every experiment
Sharing or monetizing every attempt introduces judgment before playful exploration has had room to develop.
Waiting for inspiration
Creativity weakens when practice depends on a rare mood instead of a small recurring commitment.
Is it for you?
Best for
Adults who say they are not creative or feel rigid when solving unfamiliar problems.
Not ideal for
People seeking a guaranteed commercial output from every creative session.
From the transcript
“creativity is this horizontal layer across everything we do in life”
“the problem is it's like a muscle you have to work it out”
“pick a creative thing cooking painting photography it doesn't matter just do it and understand how it feels to get into that flow state”
From the episode
Brit Morin on Personal Branding, Entrepreneurship, and Unconventional Creativity