Many of you ask me how I grew my Instagram account recently. I owe it to dedication, hard work and pushing myself creatively. The harder you push, the more authentic the work becomes. It’s surprising how much work it is to find your own voice.

Top: Urban Outfitters (similar here and here) // Skirt: Zara // Sandals: Zara // Bag: Alexander Wang

 Without further ado, here are some quick tips I’ve been practicing. I hope it’ll get your creative juices flowing!

1. Post once a day. If you’re serious about Instagram, your first goal should be to challenge yourself to post at least once a day. Instagram is a great output place for all types of creative minds. It has an awesome community too, I feel blessed to have met so many amazing folks!

2. Coffee shops. I mean my whole blog is kind of about coffee shops isn’t it? 🙂 Besides coffee being the nectar of the gods, there have been studies written on how coffee shops spark creativity – something about the level of noise (read more here). I have an affinity for SOMA coffee shops, too.

3. Listen to music. This is a very easy one. If you ever take an art or design class, you’ll notice the teacher will play music in the background while working on a project in groups. I write/edit most of my photos and create looks from scratch to music. Here are some Soundcloud playlist for inspiration here and here!

4. Walking. Steve Jobs was notorious for his long walks. If you haven’t read his bio by Walter Isaacson, I’d highly recommend. When I’m stuck, I love just putting on my headphones and taking a long walk. Plus it’s good exercise. Win-win. Read the Stanford study here.

5. Get out of your comfort zone. I always hated public speaking. Last year, to overcome this fear, I took an improv class. I can’t say I’m super comfortable now either but it definitely helped me get out of my shell more. One of the best ways to get out of awkward situations is to make fun of myself these days – it works almost every time! 😉

Hope you enjoyed reading these tips. Do you have any other tips on how to be more creative – I’d love to hear!

Thanks for reading.

xx as always,