Post on 12-Feb-2017
WAYS TO BE CREATIVEUNCONVENTIONAL5
Our brains are lazy.It has been scientifically proven.
Our brains frequently use connections or neural pathways created by past experience to
decipher the world around us.
If we just let them be, our brains would always
choose the most energy efficient path.
MIT senior lecturer Tara Swart
http://www.fastcompany.com/3045424/work-smart/what-it-takes-to-change-your-brains-patterns-after-age25
This means that our brains arent great at being creative.
Creativity is all about making new connections.
We have to do things that are counter-intuitive in order to spark
our creative side...
Even if they might feel unnatural at first.
?
Here are five unconventional ways to get your creative juices flowing.
CUT YOURSELF OFF FROM THE WORLD#1
If you want to get creative, reduce your sensory input as much as possible.
Why?
Cutting off sensory input allows the constantly-make-sure-youre-not-dying part of your brain to chill out for a second, allowing the creative, relaxed part of your
brain to come out and play.
- Graham Talley
https://blog.buerapp.com/the-power-of-shutting-down-your-senses-how-to-boost-your-creativity-and-have-a-clear-mind
If you work from home or have control over your working environment, try
doing these three things:
Work-from-home expert, Belle Beth Cooper
https://blog.buerapp.com/the-power-of-shutting-down-your-senses-how-to-boost-your-creativity-and-have-a-clear-mind
REDUCE VISUAL INPUTLay down in a dark room and
just let your mind wander.
Blackout curtains would be perfect for this, but a blindfold or eye mask would do great as well.
Get a set of padded or in-ear headphones and block out the myriad of distractions and noises around you.
SHUT OUT THE NOISE
Literally get away from the rest of the world. Try a regular bath time ritual with earplugs and an eye mask.
ISOLATE YOURSELF
DAYDREAM#2
Recent research has shown that daydreaming might just be the key to unlocking
your creative problem solving potential.
http://www.hungtonpost.com/2012/10/20/daydreaming-creativity-mind-wandering_n_1981546.html
A study conducted by researchers from the University of California found that
engaging in simple external tasks that allow the mind to wander may facilitate creative
problem solving.
In the experiment, participants were asked to come up with as many unusual uses for an
object as they could.
Participants then did one of four things before performing the same unusual use task again:
Do a demanding task
Do an undemanding task
Take a 12 minute break
Skip the 12 minute break and do the task right away
The group who performed the undemanding task was the only group who did better the
second time around.
This group of people also reported high levels of daydreaming while completing the task.
Make sure to start your project before drifting off.
http://99u.com/articles/16136/7-ways-to-boost-your-creativity
Take improv comedy lessons#3
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304256404579449180386537694)
Watching comedy can more than double our ability to solve brain teasers, according to researchers from the University of Maryland.
Comedy improves our mental flexibility, engaging our brains in ways
that it does not expect.
Taking classes in this area helps to stretch your imagination.
Improv requires players to accept what they are given, build on the ideas of others, and encourage wild ideas.
Everyone thinks that they know how to brainstorm, but in fact, brainstorming is usually
plagued by problems like self-censoring, competitiveness, and ridicule.
Improv is a great way for [people] to learn to defer judgment.
Engineering professor at Dartmouth Peter Robie
http://www.fastcompany.com/1576793/do-improv-comedians-make-best-design-thinkers
Eat something new for breakfast#4
If youre looking to increase your creativity, its better to switch up
your morning routine a bit.
Social psychologist Simone Ritter and her colleagues:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201206/why-weird-experiences-boost-creativity
Any kind of new experience that pushes you out of your normal thought patterns
can help with boosting your creativity.
Participants of an experiment were asked to prepare a sandwich with butter and chocolate chips
Some people were told to prepare the sandwich in an unusual order:
Putting chocolate chips on a dish, then
Buttering the bread, and then
Placing the bread buttered-side-down on the dish with the chocolate chips.
Another group had to make the sandwich in the usual order
Meanwhile, other groups watched a video of a person making the sandwich in either the unusual way or the usual way.
The result?
Those who made the sandwich in an unusual order scored highest in cognitive flexibility
compared with the other groups.
If such a simple exercise could make such a big difference, the possibilities are endless. Make a cup of tea instead of coffee one morning. Find a hip new joint for lunch or try adding a new app to your workflow. Just try to engage your brain differently, and
you might just discover something new that day.
Switch up your work schedule#5
Remember: the key to creativity is to get our brains to work less efficiently than normal
(surprisingly!)
For instance, when were tired, our brains filter tends to take a break.
Science WriterMarissa Fessenden
http://elitedaily.com/life/people-are-creative-when-tired/1145773/
And starts making non-standard connections.
A fuzzy brain is more open to fresh ideas and perspectives.
400 students morning larks and night owls were asked to solve insight-based and analytical problems at different times.
Mareike B. Wieth Rose T. Zacks
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13546783.2011.625663
For the the insight-based creativity problems, participants ended up performing better
when they were less awake.
For night owls, the optimal time ended up being in the wee hours of the morning.
4:00 AM
For early risers, the optimal time was late at night.
23:30 AM
So start thinking about staying up past your bedtime or waking before
your alarm clock to do some unstructured thinking!
So there you have it! Time to ditch your conventional ways and get your
creative juices flowing!
Creati
ve Juic
e
Do you have any other unconventional tips for getting your creative on? Give us a shoutout in the comments below, or find us on Twitter.
@piktochart
Check out the full article on our blog: https://piktochart.com/blog/5-unconventional-ways-to-be-creative/