We've seen and tasted enough in the past to know what works for us and what helps us be creative and happy, and what doesn't work and we need to reduce or eliminate.

The difficult sometimes is getting through the surface chaos and listening to our inner, knowledgeable selves.

Every one of us is unique in our creativity, so we each have a slightly different recipe for a creative happy life.

However there are some basic ingredients that we all need for our recipe.

Today we're going to look in more depth at one of the most important.

Finding routines that work is essential for a life of creative and happiness.

So what do we mean by "routines that work"?

Many of us who are creative recoil in horror at the idea of set routines or patterns of working in our creative life.

There are many traditional romantic images of the artist being struck suddenly by inspiration and being compelled to create feverishly until their new work is complete, their idea fully realised.

But what happens then during the times we're not creating?

Do we just hang around hopefully and wait for inspiration to magically appear?

Boredom is one of the lethal enemies of the creative mind. Just waiting around for something to happen is at best a bit of a drag, and at worst excruciatingly painful and frustrating.

It's not a formula for a very happy or a very creative life.

So what's the alternative?

The solution - the best way to lead a life that's consistently creative and fulfilling - is to find routines and systems that work for us.

Creating a little each day is one of the crucial cornerstones.

Setting aside a time when we just go to our creative work space, or somewhere we'll be undisturbed, and just creating, even if it's just for 15 minutes each day is essential.

It's the basis we can build everything else in our life of creativity and happiness upon.

Other parts of our routines we can put in place are:

When we work - experimenting and finding the times of day we're most creative.

Our creative environment - the surroundings most conducive to us creating easily and freely.

Reviewing and editing - the systems we use to review what we've created and make any necessary changes.

There are many other parts of our creative lives where having a system in place - a system unique to us that we've tried and tested - can help us be as creative as possible.

How can we find routines that work?

Be willing to test and experiment. Read and absorb as much as you can from other creative people and creativity experts, try their methods and systems and take the parts that work for you.

Over time, tweak, fine tune and evolve your creative routines so they continue to allow your creativity to flourish as freely as possible.

What are you going to do TODAY to start to find routines that work?

Start right now, look at the routines you currently have that work and the ones that aren't working that you can drop.

Research and gather new routines and systems and start to find your unique and most effective ways of working.

By finding the creative routines that work for you, you'll be giving yourself one of the essential ingredients for a creative and happy life.