Have you ever noticed that some of the most laid back and casual marketers seems to get the best results, while the data-driven super professionals sometimes flop altogether? Apparently, working too hard for too long can be a draining experience that reduces creativity and productivity. Most internet users are more likely to be receptive to a relaxed message than a relentless onslaught of what appears to be obvious advertising. With that said, here are seven tips you can use to keep a fun-loving, entertaining approach to marketing:

1. Don’t Beat Yourself Up Over Failures, Learn from Them

As the saying goes: “it’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up.” Getting back up and thinking to yourself “I can’t believe I just got knocked down” will get you nowhere. You need to stand up from failures and think to yourself: “why didn’t I get the results I was looking for, and what can I do right now to prevent it from happening again?”

2. Don’t Fret, Make a Schedule and Stick With It

Scheduling is by far the best way to reduce stress and start operating with a set-it-and-forget-it mentality. Before embarking on a challenging project, take the time to plan everything out in a way that gives you plenty of leeway and time to achieve the desired results. Devising a schedule that will be easy to adhere to should be the first step in getting rid of the fear that you won’t be able to get it all done in time, and removing those lingering concerns can do a lot to free up energy that could otherwise be used for creativity.

3. Take Frequent Breaks and Stay Socially Active

Your schedule should take into account frequent breaks and there should be enough free time to let you enjoy a social life of some sort. People who never entertain themselves with friends and family tend to have lower levels of creativity because they’re not interacting with enough outside influences. A night out with your buddies might not seem like a great way to boost productivity, but in reality it will do just that because you’ll typically notice a renewed desire to return to work with a vengeance the next day.

4. Stay Up-to-Date on World Affairs and Trends

How can you expect to grab someone’s attention and stay relevant as a brand if you don’t even know what’s going on in the world? People gravitate towards current world affairs and trends, so being knowledgeable in that regard will not only give you something to do in your spare time, it’ll also equip you to create more effective ads in terms of social relevance and sharing potential.

5. Do What You Want During Your Free Time

There has to be a period of time when you’re able to just get up and do whatever it is you feel like doing at that time. Spontaneity is often the precursor to some of the greatest creative breakthroughs. Suddenly you decide that the weather is beautiful so you want to go for a jog in the park. On the way back home you’re practically struck by a brilliant idea. Any innovator will tell you that they’ve had similar experiences.

6. Give Yourself Time to Sleep In

Few things are more enjoyable than sleeping in and relaxing until you feel like getting out of bed. While that might seem lazy and contrary to the “early bird catches the worm” mentality, it’s been proven that getting lots of quality sleep can noticeably improve creativity, problem solving skills, reaction time, and mental awareness in general. If your job demands creativity, don’t stress about getting up at 5 AM when you fell asleep at midnight; get your 6-8 hours and you’ll notice a profound improvement in your daytime performance.

7. Strengthen Your Sense of Humour

Everyone has a sense of humour, but some of us have been neglecting it for far too long. If you want to be creative and productive you need to learn to laugh and relax a bit. People don’t like reading stiff content with no comedic value. Your readers and target audience want to laugh, smile, and enjoy themselves, so those are things you should be doing routinely to put yourself in the appropriate mindset.

Be Yourself, All the Time

Have you ever noticed that some of the most effective sales copy uses slang, short sentences, and even profanity? That’s because people tend to view casual content as being more genuine and honest than the stiff and meticulous alternative. When you’re constantly focusing on putting on a show to make yourself look like someone who you’re not, that takes away from your creative energy as you strive to maintain what is essentially a prolonged act.