There is a common misconception that creativity is a gift – that it’s something you either have or you don’t. However, this is simply not true. Creativity is something you have to work at. It’s like a muscle you have to train.

So how can you be innovative and creative at work? Before we look at some specific ideas that will set your creative juices flowing, let’s think briefly in general terms about what it is that drives creativity.

What is it that allows Steve Jobs and Elon Musks to innovate so consistently? Creativity is about trying to see things from a different angle; it’s about trying to find a new perspective. It’s about trying to step outside of the mental constraints we impose upon ourselves to attempt to look at a problem in a new light. Being creative is trying to understand what limitations we are unwittingly conforming to, and then breaking free of them. It is allowing yourself to do things, experience things or consider things in unfamiliar ways. This is the essence of creativity and innovation, and shaking things up to free yourself from accepted ways of thinking is at the heart of being creative. Above all, you need to fight against routine, mindlessness and apathy, the mortal enemies of the creative process.

Here are 13 ways to be innovative and creative at work:

1. Go Outside
If you are suffering from a creative block, one of the simplest and most powerful ways to remedy it is to leave the office and go for a walk. If your brain becomes stuck in a rut of routine and repetition, just seeing some unfamiliar sights can help you break free of your self-imposed mental prison. When you do this, make sure you switch off your phone and give your mind space and time to relax. If you spend your walk staring at your screen, you might as well stay in the office – the idea is to let your mind wander. When you arrive back at the office, you will feel creatively invigorated.

2. Don’t Fill “Dead Time” with Pointless Telephone Use
“Dead time” is moments like when you are on a train or having lunch alone. Your mind is inactive, and you are just waiting for the time to pass. Nowadays, many people have developed a reflex during moments like this to reach for their smartphone. However, if you spend every spare minute of the day feeding information into your brain – often useless information – you are crowding out moments when your brain can be rearranging thoughts and brewing up new ideas. You need to give your mind downtime to be creative and innovative. If you fill dead time by reading the news on your telephone or digging turnips from a virtual garden, you are effectively filling some of your brain’s most creative moments with white noise. Celebrate dead time and let your brain wander.

3. Start Your Day with Creativity
Another bad habit so many of us now have that kills creativity is to fall into the rut of routine from the moment we open our eyes. When the alarm sounds in the morning, before we even crawl out of bed, we reach for our telephone. For most of us, our telephone probably is our alarm. Before we know it, we’re checking our notifications and our mind is already fixed into the worn groove of our hyper-connected life. Instead of this, why not start by giving your brain something different and stimulating when you first wake up? Leave your phone switched off for the first hour of the day and give your brain something else to do instead. Listen to music, read a book, meditate, do yoga, make some unique drink or anything else you can think of. Give your mind some space to breathe and expand first thing in the morning – and then see how much more creative you become later in the day.

4. Set Aside “Creative Time” out of the Office
The routine of turning up for work and doing the same old thing in the same old place is deadly poison to creativity. You end up training your brain to think about things in the same way, and the day-to-day grind fills the space required for original thoughts. An answer to this is to set aside “creative time” outside of the office. Allow yourself 45 minutes once or twice a week to sit in a coffee shop and just think. You should find a place that is comfortable and quiet, somewhere you can simply sit and be alone with your drink. You shouldn’t have any particular goals and you certainly shouldn’t take work with you – but at the same time, this is “work time” and you should focus your thoughts on work. The idea is to allow your mind to relax and simply wander. You will probably come up with some surprising new insights or ideas.

5. Surround Yourself with Inspiration
Even if you can’t go for a walk, spend reflective time in a coffee shop or rearrange your office furniture, you can still surround yourself with inspirational material that will help keep your mind on its toes. Always be on the lookout for new and stimulating material and adorn your workspace with whatever you find. It could be newspaper headlines, rousing quotations, objects, photos or anything else – it’s up to you. Make sure you keep replacing everything too – it will keep your space fresh, and this, in turn, will keep your mind fresh. Above all, don’t let your environment become dull and boring or your mind will stagnate.

6. Pair Up
Creativity and innovation will be stunted if you work alone, so have someone to bounce ideas off of. Depending on your work situation, this could take different forms. One idea might be to organize dedicated brainstorming sessions with your business partner or another collaborator. Another more original idea might be to pair people in the office for a certain amount of time as “creativity buddies”. For a set period, perhaps one month, you can set aside a time each week for the two to share ideas, brainstorm, chat, discuss and generally come up with new ideas. After the allotted time is up, rotate the pairs to keep things fresh and help generate even more creativity. This way, you can have people with different expertise and outlooks teaming up; new ideas will quickly start flowing. How you organize this in your particular work situation is up to you – be creative!

7. Move Your Desk
This works in a similar way to going for a walk. If you always sit at the same desk in the same place and do the same tasks, move your desk. When you find your creativity drying up, if it’s possible, try rearranging your office. Something as simple as sitting in a different location can have a big effect. Of course, this might not be possible for everyone, but there are other things you can do. Go and sit at someone else’s desk for a while or swap desks with somebody. Sit on a sofa to reconsider a difficult problem. It can be quite amazing how a simple change of position or scenery can help your creativity start flowing.

These seven ideas are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to boosting your creativity and innovation at work. The key is to find what works for you and make a conscious effort to break free from routine and try something new. Creativity is not a gift – it’s a skill that can be developed and honed. So start flexing your creative muscles and watch as your ideas soar to new heights.