5 unconventional ways to be creative

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WAYS TO BE CREATIVE UNCONVENTIONAL 5

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  • 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/