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8 Scientific Ways to Get Inspired and Be Creative
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Take a Nap
Dreaming is a source of inspiration because your brain is working even when you’re asleep.
If you can’t seem to break through your brainstorming session, take a nap.
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Listen to Music
Music can put you into a “mind-wandering” state that’s perfectly conducive to coming up with new and creative ideas.
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Stare Out the Window
Daydreaming is linked to creativity.
The greatest insights come when we stop trying to be so purposeful.
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Take a Shower
Taking a shower is relaxing. It is also distracting, which helps your subconscious do its work.
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Go for a Walk
Walking increases creativity.
We don't need to use too much effort into walking, we just need to leave the mind free to wander.
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Wash the Dishes
Washing dishes mindfully by smelling the soap and feeling the shape of the dishes can increase mental stimulation.
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Do Your Chores
Completing mindless chores gets you up and moving and helps make room for inspiration to flow.
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Plan the Rest of Your Day
When you don't feel like working on your tasks, take a few moments to plan your day.
Even if you do it as a form of procrastination, to postpone doing the actual work, it will help you...
Smaller Manageable Parts
Break the project you don't want to start into smaller pieces.
Breaking it down into small tasks and adding those to your to-do list isn't exactly fun, but it is less overwhelming than working. And it's also useful: When you finally do get around to starting, you've got a strategy.
Clean Something
Clean something every time you don't want to get started on a work project. Don't listen to a podcast or turn on the radio. Just clean. Make it as boring as possible, so that your mind wanders.
This does two things: it delays actually working on your project and it gives you time to think, possibly generating ideas that will come in handy whenever you get back to the project you're trying to put off.
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Restrict yourself
Research suggests placing self-imposed limitations can boost creativity.
It forces your brain to come up with creative solutions to finish a project around the parameters you’ve ...
Re-conceptualize the problem
Instead of thinking of a cut-and-dry end goal to certain situations, creative people sit back and examine the problem in different ways before beginning to work.
If you find yourself stagnating by focusing on generic problems, try to re-conceptualize the problem by focusing on a more meaningful angle.
For example: Instead of thinking “What would be something cool to paint?” rather ask, “What sort of painting evokes the feeling of loneliness that we all encounter after a break-up?”
Create psychological distance
Creating “psychological” distance may be useful for breaking through a creative block.
Try to imagine your creative task as being disconnected and distant from your current position/location - this may make the problem more accessible and can encourage higher level thinking.
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Creativity and problem solving
Creativity is about problem-solving. And creativity is also about finding problems to solve in the first place: perceiving them, defining them, explaining them, and recordin...
Diving and swimming
This technique requires 2 steps:
- Deep immersion into a subject matter without specifically looking for an answer to your problem.
- Letting go completely while you process that information (actually walking away from it), to allow good ideas to bubble up from the subconscious and into clear view.
Exaptation
This is the ability to reach beyond a specific field of expertise and create new uses for an older thing. It’s about taking one thing and using it for a different purpose than intended.
For example: Apply a cooking recipe to a marketing strategy or use a spreadsheet program to organize words for your poetry.