Simple Ways to Boost Your Creativity
Are you feeling stuck right now? Maybe there’s a situation that you’re in that you just can’t find a clear path out of. Or perhaps you’re in decision paralysis, overloaded by options and unsure of which one is the right one.
If you’re ever in a situation where you just don’t know what to do next, whether the problem is big or small, creative thinking can be used to open yourself up to possibilities that you couldn’t originally see.
I’ve come up with three simple ways you can boost your creative thinking immediately. These are things you can do over and over again to begin incorporating more novelty into your routine, and expand your horizons beyond what you ever imagined before.
Take a different path
Drive a different route to or from work, and if possible, do this without your GPS on. We tend to go on auto-pilot when we get in the car. Even your iPhone knows where you’re headed when you get in the car at 7am each day. When you follow the same route to work, your brain begins to ignore the things that it could predict, and over time you start to not even be aware of world outside your little bubble in the car.
So shake this up! Confuse your iPhone! Go a different way! When you do this, you will automatically be required to engage your prefrontal cortex, or the executive thinking part of the brain, in the process. This means you will become more aware of the space around you. When a scene in unfamiliar, your brain is on the lookout for danger, and is much more engaged in the process.
The simple act of waking up your thinking brain during a task that it is usually dormant for, can begin to build those new neural pathways, making them available for use in other tasks throughout your day.
Taking a different path doesn’t only apply to driving, although that is typically the easiest place to start. You can also take a different path through the grocery store aisles, winding backwards from where you naturally start. Or better yet, head to a different grocery store, even if it’s the same chain, you’ll still be in a novel place. You can walk the loop in the opposite direction on your walk in the park.
Have a conversation
One of the best ways to gain a new perspective on something is to ask someone else their opinion. This can be as direct as asking a friend what they think about a certain situation or problem that you’re feeling stuck on, but the conversation doesn’t even need to be about a specific issue. Just engaging in conversation with another person, and really, really listening to what they are saying, can force you to alter your perspective and begin to see everything around you from a new angle.
I love when I have the chance to engage in a really great conversation with a stranger, or with an acquaintance who I don’t know that well. This can be a random chance conversation that happens when I’m waiting in a slow-moving line at the grocery store, or it can be an intentional conversation at a networking event, with someone I’ve been wanting to connect with. Regardless of where you find people, engaging in real conversation, and listening to others with your full attention, will not only help you gain a new perspective, but it is the best way to invite more of those kinds of conversations.
If you are always on the lookout for opportunities to engage with others, this means that you are existing is a state of openness and adventure. And that is the best way to maintain a creative mind.
Move your body
Taking a walk is a great way to boost creativity, not only because you’re outside, hopefully getting some fresh air and sunlight, but also because you’re moving your body. Even if you don’t have the time or ability to take a walk right now, doing some simple exercises to get your heart pumping and muscles activated will go a long way. The key is to move your body with intention. If you’re doing pushups, really focus on the motion of the push up. Focus your attention on the chest muscles, keeping your core engaged, and maintaining a flat back.
Exercising in this way, with intention and focus, can be a great way to bring your attention into the present moment. You’re shifting your awareness away from the feelings of “stuckness” and the inner dialogue that is keeping you trapped, and forcing your conscious mind to exist in the here and now. Throw some jumping jacks in the mix, or a round of burpees, and your heart rate will rev up, pumping blood and oxygen through your body, and triggering the release of those feel-good hormones that keep us energized.
If you exercise regularly, switching up your routine can be hugely beneficial for enhancing creativity. Because not only are you creating new neural pathways as you engage different muscle groups, and move your body in different ways, you are also forced to be intentional about the flow of your workout. You have to be in the moment because you won’t be relying on auto-pilot to take you through your routine.
Get out in nature
This is my very best tip for boosting your creativity because it encompasses almost all of the other tips in just this one, especially if you go with a friend for the element of conversation. Even if you go to the same place each time, such as the same park or even your own backyard, there will always be something novel, new and unexpected. When you are around nature, the only thing you have to do it pay attention to it. Listen to the birds, watch them fly from tree to tree, branch to branch. Pay attention to the rustling on the ground of squirrels and chipmunks. Take a good long look at the trunk of a giant tree, or examine the petals of a flower, even just notice the curves of the broader landscape or the clouds overhead. Spend just a few minutes in awe of it all, how it all came to be, without someone having to make it. It exists, even in spite of human activity that tends to push out the natural world and overwhelm it with man-made structures.
The fact that such beauty exists, that ecosystems exist simply because of the laws of nature and physics. And this whole planet is filled with the kind of creative energy that produced it all. Maybe, just maybe, existing within it all for even a brief moment in your day, some of that energy will surely rub off on you.
While there are real scientific and biological reasons why being in nature works for enhancing creativity, such as the presence of natural sunlight, increased respiration and oxygen consumption, and even the physical sense of touch that is ignited by the heat from the sun or the breeze against your skin, I find that it works best when we don’t think too much about all that. Just be there. Just take it in.
When you’re feeling stuck, this is usually just a byproduct of neurology. Our brains love repetition! And when we do the same things over and over, our brains feel super comfy and want to keep following those familiar neural pathways that have been created.
This is not always a bad thing. It is the reason you can become a skilled expert at something. But creating new neural pathways in your brain isn’t going to override your expertise, it will only enhance it. There are many more ideas I could list for how to boost your creativity, but these four are the simplest to do, and the simplest to repeat, so it is the best place to start!
Think about these tasks as the snowplow for your brain! Doing novel activities, no matter how small or insignificant they seem, will clear a new thinking path for you, a new chain of neural processing that you can then go down with more ease in the future.
The possible paths in our brain are seemingly limitless. So go explore what else is out there, what solutions might be hiding in plain sight.
