9 Ways to Become More Creative
By Asfa Shakeel
If you feel you’re stuck in a rut and want to branch out creatively, here are a few perfectly crafted ways that can help you get more in touch with your creative side.
1. Allow boredom
Over stimulation is not conducive to any kind of new thinking. If you have an extra hour or two in the day, try not to fill it up with odd tasks or scrolling through social media, and instead allow your mind to wander freely. Not only is it good for to unplug and take some time away from the virtual world, but research shows that a mind that is bored eventually moves into the daydreaming stage to search for stimulation, which is where new ideas happen.
2. Watch a few Ted Talks
To be more creative in any field, you have to have a sense of the developments that have happened and are currently happening in that field. Ted Talks are the perfect thing for this kind of inspiration, since these give you direct access to the processes of people that used creativity to push the boundaries of their respective fields.
3. Ask questions about what you see
When you look around you on a daily basis, try and see the potential for the future rather than presuming that all that could be done has already been done. Everything from the television to Facebook was a crazy and impractical idea when first launched, but these very ‘crazy’ ideas are what revolutionized the world.
4. Practice some craft daily
The trick with improving anything in life is to practice lots of it. The 10,000 hour rule states that to become an expert in anything, you have to stick with it and practice your craft for 10,000 hours. No one is born an expert in anything. A good way to start small is to set aside a manageable amount of time everyday for your preferred craft, whether that’s doodling, painting, learning a new language or even just letting your mind wander.
5. Pick the right kind of environment
If you’re someone that’s looking to create a painting portfolio but you’re stuck at the office for long hours of the day with work travelling home with you, you’ll probably never be able to get to your true passion. For any person, it is important that the place where they spend most of their time facilitates their creative process rather than suffocating it out.
6. Understand what time works best for you
has a certain time of the day when they are at their best and most productive. For some people, this time is late in the night and for others, its right when they get out of bed in the morning. Figure out what time your mind works best at and designate a portion of that time to develop your thinking processes.
7. Listen to music
Many people find that their creativity is stimulated and encouraged with background music to accompany their daydreaming or even just their everyday lives. If you’re that kind of person, find the right kind of music for yourself and put it on to come up with some great new ideas.
8. Learn a new language
Learning a new language is one of the most time-intensive but rewarding ways to breed creativity. It not only gives you a whole new way in which to interact with the world around you, but it also quite literally opens your eyes to a new culture and body of creative work which you were unable to access before and which might now take your mind farther than you thought possible.
9. De-clutter your space
One of the most helpful things you can do for yourself on your creative journey is to give yourself an open space in which to be creative in. A cluttered space around you is likely to distract and even overwhelm you. This doesn’t mean you have to tidy away things that are creative stimulants but a room full of dirty plates and clothes doesn’t help anyone. Tidy up the space around you and the open space could literally help your thinking to open up as well.
