If your mind still isn’t in creative mode and you’re dying for next great idea – whether it be for planning a party, setting up a new website, writing an ebook to sell online, etc. – one of the best ways to get ideas is to visit the local bookstore.

You’ve likely heard it before, but this really works.

Why?

Bookstores are repositories of the best minds in the world – past and present. You never know what will strike you or inspire you when you’re in a bookstore. Sometimes it’s a magazine article, sometimes it’s a how to book, sometimes it’s a novel – but if you wander around just enjoying the titles, leafing through the picture books and magazines and keep your mind at rest (don’t tell yourself “I’m looking for ideas”) and playful, those ideas will come to you.

Buy a book or two, grab a magazine. If you can afford the time wander around that bookstore then go have a coffee or tea with the intention of going back to the bookstore after your mind has had a chance to process all the new data it took in. By the time you finish your drink or snack you’ll know exactly the book you want to buy, the idea you want to research online, or the magazine you immediately want to purchase back issues on….

Now this doesn’t work every time – 9 times out of 10 though. There’s usually that one time that I’m really struggling for something unique and fresh that I find myself leaving the bookstore empty handed. There’s one of the secrets – don’t struggle, be playful.