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Creativity is all about finding new ways of solving problems and approaching situations. This isn't a skill restricted to artists, musicians or writers; it is a useful skill for people from all walks of life.Creativity is like a muscle. It must be stretched, challenged, and occasionally pushed past its comfort zone.

The first step is to fully devote yourself to developing your creative abilities. Do not put off your efforts. Set goals, enlist the help of others and put time aside each day to develop your skills.One thing that researchers have noticed with especially creative people is that they tend to re-conceptualize the problem more often than their less creative counterparts. That means, instead of thinking of a cut-and-dry end goal to certain situations, they sit back and examine the problem in different ways before beginning to work. Here's a candid example — for a writer who handles content marketing strategy for startups, the end goal is something like "write popular articles." The problem is, if you approach an article with the mindset of, "What can I write that will get a lot of tweets?, you won't come up with something very good. However, if you step back and examine the problem from another angle, such as: "What sort of articles really resonate with people and capture their interest?", then you are focusing on a far better fundamental part of the problem, and you will achieve your other goals by coming up with something more original. As Alan Cohen once wrote, "There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither."

Sometimes your best ideas will come when you're not wracking your brain trying to come up with the next great idea. It could be while you're sleeping. A good night of rest will help you be more productive and creative.Sometimes you're too close to a problem to figure out a creative solution all by yourself. Ask for help and advice from friends, peers, and people from your personal network that you trust and respect. Every person has a unique skill set, experience, and knowledge. Even if you don't use their advice, it may spark some new, creative thinking that will get you where you need to go.

Use the 'Six Hats' Technique. The "six hats" technique involves looking at a problem from six differing perspectives. By doing this, you can produce more ideas than you might have had you only looked at the situation from one or two points of view.

Red Hat: Look at the situation emotionally. What do your feelings tell you?
White Hat: Look at the situation objectively. What are the facts?
Yellow Hat: Use a positive perspective. Which elements of the solution will work?
Black Hat: Use a negative perspective. Which elements of the solution won't work?
Green Hat: Think creatively. What are some alternative ideas?
Blue Hat: Think broadly. What is the best overall solution?

These tips should provide with you a good head start on how to go about boosting your creativity.