11 Ways to Bring More Joy (and Less Stress) into Your Life

Please note that all links shared in this post are simply ones that I feel will enhance your journey to finding greater peace in your life. I am not compensated in anyway for sharing them.

If you are like most people, the thought of picking up a pen, paintbrush, dusting off your actual camera, or even cooking a meal can feel like an impossibility, especially if you’ve just finished your day job, night job, swing shift, parent shift, whatever!However, that may be exactly what you need to keep your cortisol down and your endorphins up.

According to Mental Health UK, one in four people is suffering from burnout. One in four! That means twenty-five percent of everyone you know is suffering from severe, lingering stress. No wonder we feel like we’re walking around in a fog all the time. When stress takes over your life, good eating and sleep habits tend to go out the door.

A study by the Maven Clinic states that working moms are 28% more likely to experience burnout as compared to working fathers. This is often because of societal norms where women generally take care of the domestic tasks, in addition to their outside workload. Also, women are often more people-pleasers and perfectionists.

And burnout isn’t bad just because it leaves you exhausted. If you let yourself stay in the burnout phase, you are more likely to develop a whole host of problems from heart disease, accelerated brain aging (read more), and depression. Plus, stress reduces the quality of your sleep, and makes eating well less of a priority.

Luckily, there are ways to keep burnout at bay, and if practiced regularly, it may never become a threat to your health. The secret?

Get Creative!

But you may be saying “I’m not artsy. I can’t paint.” Or “I’m not good at writing,” or “I can’t play any musical instruments. I’m just not talented.”

If any of those statements are running through your head, stop it, right now! Just because you’ve never taken a class, or you don’t feel like what you make it good enough, it doesn’t matter. AT ALL.

In order for the effects of pursuing creativity to work, all you have to do is just do it. Doesn’t that sound nice? What matters when you are using creative outlets to destress your life is to simply you allow yourself to create. No judgement. (To read more on this topic, check out this article by Elle Magazine.)

So to help you on your creative journey, here are 11 tips to help you eliminate stress and experience more joy in your life.

1. Write

This might sound simple, but writing has so many amazing benefits. It can:

• Help us work through difficult experiences or trauma from our past.
• Reduce anxiety and depression by getting your thoughts out in the physical world.
• Help you manage stress and problem solve. (Sticky note lists, anyone?)
• Help you achieve your goals by keeping track of them and the steps you need to take.
• Allow you to gain insight into your motivation and progress.
• Boost your creativity by activating different parts of your brain.
• Help you explore new ideas, perspectives and solutions. (I’ve discovered that after writing epic fantasy, it’s easier to see things from other people’s perspectives because I spend so much time in other people’s or character’s heads analyzing how they think and feel.)
• Improve your written and oral communication skills
• Aid in better sleep habits. If you struggle sleeping, journaling can improves your sleep habits by writing down things that are bothering you and if you’re like me and easily forget things, it helps reduce the anxiety that you’ll forget something important by the time you wake up. Plus, getting more sleep in general will allow you to let go of a lot of stress.
• Boost your emotional intelligence. 
• Enhance critical thinking

So take a moment and write down that crazy dream you had last night. This can be in the form of a journal entry, or like you are telling your best friend about it. It doesn’t matter. Just write. If you need another reason to write, check out this post on how writing helped me get past trauma.

2. Draw

Remember how you used to doodle on your math homework in grade school? That’s what this is. Free doodling can help you let go of stress simply by making different designs and patterns (kind of like a zendoodle or zentangle). You can also learn how to draw a mandala. Mandalas can also be a form of moving meditation as you watch your patterns emerge.

3. Color a Picture

Have you seen adult coloring books? They are awesome! There are so many intricate spaces to color that I often don’t finish one in a single setting. However, I feel a sense of grounding and contentment after I finish my session. It’s also nice because I can print a coloring page for me and my children and we all get to enjoy the time together. Monday Mandala is one of my favorite sites to visit for coloring pages. They have PDFs for all ages and interests.

4. Paint a Picture

Join a paint class in your town or find a tutorial on Youtube. There are tons of tutorials out there, so find one that interests you. Painting has become one of my go-to date nights that my husband and I can share together. We’re still very much beginners, but it doesn’t matter. We create because it’s fun, it allows us to spend time together, and we feel relaxed when we’re done.

5. Dance

I don’t know about you, but dancing is one of my favorite things to do. I love the feeling of rhythm in my body and how empowering it can feel. There are also so many health benefits outside of lowering your stress levels. It strengthens and tones your body. It’s a form of exercise that anyone can do. It also can boost your self-esteem and confidence. You can read more about them on the Better Health Channel’s website. Just like anything else, there is no right or wrong way to do it. Just turn on your favorite playlist and get moving!

6. Try Cooking Something New

I love cooking, but I also love to make food look pretty. There is an art to cuisine that is often overlooked, whether it’s in the actual creative of the food or the presentation of it. One way or the other, you are using that brain of yours to create something new. If you’ve never cooked from scratch before, start out with something simple like pancakes or granola. If you’re more experience, give that triple chocolate ganache you’ve been eyeing on Pinterest a try.

To take this a step further, once your food is made, set it up like you would for a food photoshoot or working at a high end restaurant.

Charcuterie boards are also a lot of fun when you feel the creative bug.

7. Arrange a Bouquet

Floral arranging is a unique blend of creativity and connecting with nature. It is a very tactile endeavor and engages all five senses. Plus, studies show that having flowers in the home boosts your moral and lowers stress levels because of their bright displays.

If you have flowers or shrubs in your yard, you can experiment with different leaves, petals, and textures to see what you like best. If you don’t have access to fresh plants, many grocery stores have sets of similar flowers you can buy for relatively cheap and you can design several bouquets. Another option is to visit a u-pick flower farm like 3 Girls Garden and get fresh blooms to put together.

8. Do a Photo Challenge

We use our phone camera all the time to capture moments throughout our day, but have you ever tried to do an actual photoshoot with it? There are many photo challenges out there that can help you slow down and take intentional pictures. Plus, learning how to use that camera on your phone will mean that you will have way more pictures that you will want to share and perhaps even print to hang on your wall.

9. Learn an Instrument

Music has been linked to many positive effects in your brain. From greater memory retention to less stress, music, and learning how to play an instrument can go a long way. To get these effects, you don’t have to sit at the piano (or whatever instrument you choose) for hours practicing the same line of music over and over. Sometimes all you need to do is see what notes sound good together and just let your ear and your imagination go. Remember, we aren’t here to become world-class performers, (but if that’s your goal, that’s OK too!) we are here to create, and sometimes that means throwing mud at the wall and moving it around until you discover something you want to make.

10. Try Sewing, Crochet, or Knitting

This type of creativity relies on repetitive patterns like we learned with the Mandalas and zendoodles. Patterns allow our brains to go on autopilot and allow our conscious mind to wander. This space in our mind allows us to process things and even come up with new ideas. Plus, you are learning skills that would make your grandmother proud.

11. Grow a Garden

The concept of gardening has evolved from rows of the same vegetable or fruit for a full acre to planter boxes, square foot gardening, and edible landscaping. The possibilities are endless here. But getting that vitamin D you’ve been missing out on while strapped to your computer, and getting your hands dirty has a profound influence on your stress level. Plus, unlike your house, which if you have children, only stays clean for five minutes, when you weed an area in your yard or garden, it will stay that way for at least 24 hours.

Bonus Tip!

Try something new. Give yourself permission to try something you’ve never done before, or go somewhere you’ve never been. Getting out and away from your normal space can boost your creativity as well. New experiences will give you unique perspectives that you’ve never had before and spark ideas on how to take your creative journey farther.

Honestly, there are so many ways to tap into your creativity, and they don’t have to cost you tons of money. If you don’t know where to start, try writing down things you used to enjoy doing as a kid. Maybe you used to pick all the flower petals off your mom’s roses and used them to decorate your dollhouse. Or maybe you used to use up every disposable camera you could find to capture that perfect sunset. Those things you used to enjoy can help you navigate toward what will bring you joy now, because if you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and create something!