Creativity is often defined as the inadvertent imagination of a painter filling vibrant colors on canvas, a poet encapsulating pain or emotions into short couplets, or an artist bringing life to dead objects. But creativity is not limited to art professions, it is a skill that needs to be learned, and speaking broadly has nothing to do with talent.
Creativity’s outdated definition of being natural in a person has lost its liveliness when researchers after a thorough study concluded that it is a skill that when practiced and nourished becomes a part of everyday life.
So, the bogging question arises, how could it be instilled in a person’s life to enjoy it to the fullest and see its benefits? Well, here are the top 10 tactics for being more creative in daily life. Without much delay, let’s uncover them one by one.
Doodling
Often times doodling is not a habit that one is encouraged to adopt as it defines lack of attention and drift of focus but this art of scribbling promises to keep us engaged and active in an activity which you may find yourself drifting apart from in focus.
The author of “The Doodle Revolution”, Suni Brown, reported that great minds like Henry Ford and Steve Jobs had adopted doodling to kick-start creativity.
Doodling helps in enhancing recall and activates unique neurological pathways that lead to foreign ideas and cognitive breakthroughs. To add a pinch of little surprise, you know this art of scribbling out of boredom is encouraged in some companies during meetings. Does it not sound enticing? Well, if you don’t want to remain prey to being called unimaginative, start doodling.
Go for a walk
The same places don’t always offer you the best flow of creative insights, so in order to remain intact with creativity, one needs to ensure physical movement to activate the flow of idea generation. For this, a simple stroll or a short walk could be a healing cure. According to a study made in 2014 conducted by Stanford University, walking whether on a treadmill or on a hiking trail, boosts the person’s creativity significantly.
Rewarding your curiosity
Yes, you heard it right. Instead of criticizing yourself, start rewarding yourself when you feel curious about something. It is time to seek new opportunities, to explore hidden and invisible topics. This way you are removing the hindrances in the way of your creativity.
It is to be noted that though rewarding yourself is vital, it is also crucial to nourish intrinsic motivation. Because sometimes, the process itself pays the reward of creativity, not the product.
Try the Six Hats technique
This technique revolves around the idea of sighting a problem from six different angles. By adopting this quirky tactic, you are flooded with the flow of creative juices which you might miss by sticking to a fixed style of idea capturing.
This technique is captured as follows:
Black Hat: Introduces a negative perspective. i.e. discovering which aspects of the solution won’t go well.
Blue Hat: Intrigues to think broadly. Identifying the optimal solution.
Green Hat: Enables thinking creatively. Chasing alternative solutions.
Red Hat: Emphasizing the situation Listening to emotions.
White Hat: Looking at the situation objectively. Questioning the facts.
Yellow Hat: Thinking a positive perspective. Which aspects of the solution will go well?
Signing Up for Something You’ve Never Done Before
Creativity is nurtured when you step out of your comfort zone and beat procrastination. Kickstart with trivial things like painting, poetry, or woodworking, learn a new language, try your hand at a new instrument, or learning cooking or baking?
Create the Right Environment
The reality is that everyone can be creative, don’t doubt yourself, even you can be creative. The only ingredients are the right environment, stimulus, and support. Have you ever wondered why kids are more welcoming in experiencing new ideas and why adults seem so reluctant to take risks? Well, the answer is quite gratifying. Kids are awash with creative and dynamic energy because they have not experienced the fear of criticism from their peers and the potential embarrassment of failures.
Due to this reason, big ventures like Google practice giving exposure to creativity for its employees by offering fun perks like beach volleyball courts and free beer.
With the goal to develop a relaxing environment, such big companies foster dynamic even wacky ideas because they know unconventional spaces give birth to the celebration of unusual ideas and nurturing of creativity.
Start a Sketchbook
We all know drawing is an incredible method to safeguard recollections and utilize the time that may have been spent in some way or another on our phones. Purchase a little, lightweight sketchbook that you can always keep close by. Begin drawing at whatever point you have even a couple of extra minutes, draw the salt and pepper shaker on your table while hanging tight for your espresso, or the folded heap of paper on the tram.
Your sketches may disappoint you at first, but the more you draw, the better they become. Don’t start critiquing your own drawings, just enjoy the process. Creativity seeps across activities, so sketching just a few minutes a day can result in a major boost of workplace creativity.
Keep Toys on Your Desk
Numerous innovative plan organizations urge workers to keep toys on their desks from Legos and Lincoln Logs to Play-Doh and origami paper. Building something truly with your hands, rather than composing something virtually, can be the imaginative shock you need.
Try the 30 Circles Test
This incredible innovative exercise originates from scientist Bob McKim and is highlighted in Tim Brown’s TED talk Creativity and Play.
Take a bit of paper and draw 30 circles on the paper. Presently, in one moment, adjust the same number of circles as you can into objects. For instance, one circle could turn into the sun. Another could turn into a globe. What number would you be able to do in a moment? (Contemplate amount over quality.)
Most individuals struggle to get to 30, generally in light of the fact that we have an inclination as grown-ups to self-alter. Children are extraordinary at essentially investigating prospects without acting basic, while grown-ups make some harder memories. Now and then, even the craving to be unique can be a type of self-altering. Don’t forget-good artists copy, great artists steal.
Fuel Up on Creativity
Yes, you are creative but how about injecting some fuel to ignite it more?
We are unintentional prey to our tech gadgets especially our mobiles. Instead of satisfying daily unnecessary check-ins, pick a booster song, or podcast, or blog to jump-start your morning. Whatever you adopt, just be sure it adds to your creativity. Certainly, you will be surprised to see that it will improvise your daily work routine pattern and creativity process.
These tips and tricks may seem trivial, but altogether they compel you to see the world in an absolutely foreign way. Furthermore, that is the thing that advancement is tied in with, seeing open doors where nobody else can. The more you practice these, the more they will become part of your default perspective and the more advancement you will notice in your day-to-day work. Last but not the least, remember that persistence beats resistance.
Written By: Anum Fatima
About the Author: A Systems Engineer by compulsion and proficient author by passion with being adept at poetry composition. A wanderer to seek the cause of birth while struggling with uncertainties bestowed by nature.
