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We often hear that creativity is limitless, yet everyone sometimes hits a mental block, struggling to develop fresh ideas. In its essence, creativity involves finding innovative solutions to problems and thinking outside the box. Contrary to popular belief, creativity isn’t exclusive to artists, musicians, or writers; it’s a valuable skill for people from all walks of life. Like any skill, creativity needs regular practice and nurturing.
Creativity is like a muscle—it must be stretched, challenged, and occasionally pushed beyond its comfort zone. So, how can you develop your creative muscle to generate impactful ideas consistently? Let’s explore five effective ways to boost your creativity.
- Be committed
The first step is to mentally commit to achieving the goal of boosting your creativity. The first step is to fully devote yourself to developing your creative abilities.
Write out your goals and consistently work towards achieving them. You could ask others in your field for help. They might want to participate in your creativity booster challenge as well. Having partners who push each other to be dedicated to improving their creativity is essential to ensuring consistency.
Andrew Ng, formerly of Google and now of Baidu, believes that innovation is systematic, not due to unpredictable flashes of genius. “In my own life, I found that whenever I wasn’t sure what to do next, I would go and learn a lot, read a lot, and talk to experts. I don’t know how the human brain works, but it’s almost magical: when you read enough or talk to enough experts and have enough input, new ideas start appearing.”
- Record all your ideas
As you get older, the number of creative ideas that come to you doesn’t necessarily reduce, but you tend to document fewer. When an idea comes to you, start making it a point to preserve it. Jot it down on your phone or in a pocket-sized notebook.
Robert Epstein, a senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, opines that you “Capture now, evaluate later.” His research has repeatedly shown that capturing your new ideas, no matter how ridiculous, is likely the most valuable aspect of boosting creativity.
Carrie Barron, M.D., and Alton Barron, M.D., authors of The Creativity Cure, also advise skipping the Word doc and picking up a pen instead. Sometimes, the whole experience of writing by hand—the ink on your fingers, the smell of a fresh notebook—is all it takes to get creative juices flowing.
- Do nothing
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 are not actively searching for them. It could be while you’re sleeping or resting, which have proven to be great ways to improve productivity and creativity.
It could also happen while your mind wanders in the bathroom while driving, exercising, shopping, or watching the sunset. If your creativity is lacking, unplug, relax, and let your brain do its magic.
- Challenge yourself
Challenges are a catalyst for creative thinking as they force us to come up with ideas or solutions. For example, if you turn a knob and find out a door is locked, you automatically begin to brainstorm ideas and solutions — jiggling the knob, pounding on the door.
Hence, you can stimulate yourself similarly at work by setting a time limit for a task. Consider the issues and questions within and outside your field and practice brainstorming open-ended solutions.
- Try 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?
Conclusively, creativity is never-ending if you do the right things to ensure you don’t run out!