Minding Your Business Clear your work space and your mind--and get your creative juices flowing.

Do you remember the last time you struggled to come up with agreat idea? As the minutes ticked by and you strained to think ofthe perfect sales pitch or presentation strategy, your energy, yourconfidence and ultimately your productivity were zapped. Whetheryou realize it or not, your environment can play a large role inhow you think, function and ultimately produce. Here are severalways to enhance your creative side and increase yourproductivity:

• Make your environment conducive to work and free ofdistractions. Your desk doesn't have to be perfectly clear, butif it's piled high with papers, you'll be easilydistracted.

• If you've been sitting at your desk for a while trying tothink of solutions to a problem, move to another place. A change inscenery could improve your creativity. Even the short walk to thenew place could help you clear your mind.

• When you hit a roadblock, work on something else for half anhour. Then go back to your original project.

• Work on creative ideas during your most productive time of day.Some people are morning people; others come up with their bestideas after lunch. Determine what time of day works best for youand devote that time to creating new ideas, improving existingideas or solving problems.

• Set a reward for creativity. When you finally solve the problemor get a new idea, go out to lunch, leave work early or do anythingelse that motivates you.