Being creative all the time is hard. Writers for the Money magazine website talked to a variety of people in creative positions to find out what keeps the spark going. Here are some of their answers:

• Physical activity. Kuba Koziej, CEO and co-founder of Zety: “Physical activity lubricates the rusty hinges in my brain and makes my thinking more fluid. So I often take my dog for a quick run or play around the agility park. A 10-minute break shoots some oxygen and dopamine into my system and gets my mind refreshed and creative.”

• Music. Andres Lares, managing partner of Shapiro
Negotiations Institute: “To stay creative, I put on house music fairly loudly on a set of headphones. Not only does the music help focus me, others come by and only interrupt me when it’s critical.”

• Dream boards. Adamaris Mendoza, psychotherapist and relationship coach: “It might sound crazy to some, but I have a daily manifesting practice that uses a vision board. Every morning I look at an annual board full of images of my dreams. I even keep a picture of my vision board in my phone in case I need a quick pick-me-up during the day. It connects me with why I have a business.”

• Collaboration. Andrea Castro, visual artist: “To keep myself focused and inspired, I reach out to other workers in my field by phone or Skype. A one-hour talk with an artist friend, sharing our tactics, frustrations, and wins, simply fuels me to no end. It makes me want to go directly to the easel.”

• Breaks. Kat Cohen, CEO of IvyWise: “This may sound counterintuitive, but I get many of my most creative ideas while working on mundane tasks, like running errands or doing administrative upkeep. My mind is always ‘on’ — I’m constantly focusing on the students I work with and goals for my brand. Carving out a little downtime where I can tune these big-picture ambitions out and focus in on something simple gives me the mental space I need to come up with innovative ideas.”

Recycling to reduce waste and protect the environment isn’t a new idea. However, a new process may be able to recycle up to 25% of our plastic waste into fuel, according to the Science Alert website. Chemists at Purdue University have been able to liquefy the polymers that make up about a quarter of plastic waste and turn it into diesel-like products that can be used as a basis for fuel.

The process, called hydrothermal liquefaction, involves heating water under heavy pressure to work as a solvent and catalyst for transforming the molecular makeup of polymers. With the addition of some hydrogen atoms, this converts the plastic into a fluid called naphtha.

Previous results were disappointing, but the Purdue team of chemical engineers recently converted more than 90% of the polypropylene used in an experiment into fuel-grade naphtha. Further analysis suggests that the process could be a more efficient and environmentally friendly way of dealing with plastic waste than burning it or recycling it.