How to Improve Your Creativity
Creativity takes courage. ― Henri Matisse
We were born into this world with the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to leave it different from what it was before we came. How we channel that into action is what spurs imagination, invention, and culture.
Not everyone, though, has been exposed to the importance of being creative. For example, in school I used to resent having to go to art class; at the time, I just didn’t get why I had to muck around with fingerpaints (I wasn’t a very fun kid sometimes!). Now I realize that exercising that part of my brain is important, too.
The following are some tips you can follow to improve your creativity:
Listen/watch other people
Great observation skills are a basic attribute of creative people. Learning through collaboration and peer critique is a splendid way of absorbing established techniques and approaches by others in your artistic field.
Meditate/Rest
Even the greatest creatives in history believe in the value of getting away from work. Alan Cohen once wrote “There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” Some people do yoga while others prefer traveling or shopping. It doesn’t matter how you spend your free time as long as you actually relax and unplug, allowing your brain will to replenish its creative juices.
Make bad ideas into good ideas
Most of the inventions that changed the world in the past were born out of the most useless and infeasible ideas. What would have happened if Isaac Newton did not think more about how the apple fell on his head during that one day in the 17th century? Would we still know about gravity?
To turn terrible ideas into good ones, try making a list of the worst ideas you can come up with and then pick the best features of these bad ideas. You might spark something creative.
Exercise regularly
Frequent exercise is not only good for your body: it has also been proven to be beneficial to the creative process. Researchers from the Creativity Research Journal have posited that “fostering environments that encourage aerobic exercises” may result into better creative output in multiple business fields.
Put psychological distance from your problem
Do you give your friends great advice, but can’t figure out your own problems? That is actually because of the psychological distance you have from their problems. Their problems are currently happening to you so you do not have your own biases and emotional tanglements that affect your rational thinking.
What do you when you want to be more creative?