Increasing your creative thinking skills is not always the easiest thing to do. It takes a certain mental state to be able to output genuine creative ideas on to paper, and sometimes pushing yourself into that state of mind seems like the last thing you want to do. Many times, we find ourselves in that creative state at the most inopportune times, like while having dinner with grandma or during your daily walk with the dogs. Wouldn’t it be amazing if there were certain brain exercises which helped us stay creative when we wanted to be? For inventors, we need to have strategies always available so that fleeting moment of creative expression is no longer fleeting. That’s why we created a list of 5 enjoyable ways to increase your creative thinking.
- Limit Yourself
- Meditate
- Free Associate
- Draw and Write with Your Left Hand
- Sit Outside a Box
We start off with this brain exercise because as a method for increasing your creative thinking, it gets overlooked every day. Did you know that Dr. Seuss wrote Green, Eggs, and Ham over a bet? The bet way that he wouldn’t be able to produce a story under 50 words and look what happened! If you ignore the path of “least resistance” and focus rather on the possible solutions to the limitations you set for yourself, you could end up with an idea that solves issues you had no idea existed in the first place. Plus, by doing this, you will be able to challenge yourself which can lead to some exciting findings about yourself. Here are some ways to limit yourself so that you can try it out!
Across the board, meditation is agreed upon as one of the best brain exercises to increase creative thinking. It promotes divergent thinking, which allows us to generate new ideas quicker. From thinking clearly to gaining insight on problems, meditating each day can help you to look at the bigger picture of your project. Plus, it is also proven to help decrease stress, which stunts our creativity every day. So trust us; if you take 20 minutes each day to relax and clear your mind, we promise it will up help to boost your creativity and could lead to better product ideas.
Free association can be one of the best brain exercises to increase your creative thinking. Try opening up your dictionary or encyclopedia and picking one word. Then, write down everything that that word makes you think of. You’ll realize that this free association will allow your brain to think more restrictively, which can promote new avenues of thinking.
While you should be drafting your designs by pencil and paper regardless, drawing and writing by hand is agreed upon as a quicker way to unleash your creativity into the world. Scientists have also found that since creative thinking is usually associated with the right hemisphere of the brain, we are able to artificially activate that part of the brain by using the left side of our body! So next time you’re stuck in a rut, try drafting something with just your left hand and let your brain do the rest.
Yes, we realize this sounds ridiculous but “think outside the box” is not a cliché saying with no meaning. Scientists actually tested out this theory by having participants sit inside and outside a box while taking creativity tests! The results? People who sat outside the box actually had more creative ideas than the ones inside. While it may not be conventional, try it out when you’re having some trouble with your project. You never know where your mind might take you.
Still need some help with your product ideas? Give us here at Pivot a call. We can help you move forward no matter what stage of invention and product development you’re in.
