10 Ways to Be More Creative
Creativity is often branded as an inborn talent or gift. But in reality, it is a skill to be learned, honed and continually developed.
Creativity is in all of us: in a mother who conjures one bedtime story after another, in a cook who whips up exotic variations of a dish, in a child who erects varied buildings with his or her building blocks. Fanning your creativity will take you to higher levels. The more you nurture your creativity, the more it will grow.
Here are some ways to be more creative:
- Get started: Creativity will flow but only if you get, set and go. Once you get started, inspiration will follow. Try, even if you think you are not in the mood. Get the materials and stare at them and you will feel compelled to start.
- Doodle: Studies show that doodling can help you stay alert and involved during an activity in which you may find your mind drifting otherwise. Great thinkers like Steve Job and Henry Ford will vouch for this fact as it was doodling that kick-started their creativity.
- Try something new: Get out of your comfort zone and try out new courses or crafts. Push yourself to learn something new. You just might find out that it was your calling.
- Change the scenario: Move yourself physically from the space you are trying to work if your mind goes blank and refuses to function. Change of scene is proven to have a positive effect on creative thinking.
- Set the right environment: The right environment and ambience play a great role in bringing out creativity effectively. You have to feel relaxed and inspired to bring out the ideas that are hiding within your mind.
- Start sketching: Sketching is seen as a constructive utilization of spare time. Your sketches may not match up to the actual picture you have in mind, but it will definitely boost your creativity.
- Do not hesitate to exaggerate: Go to great lengths to make a mountain out of a mole hill. The process will keep the creative juices flowing and you just might have a story that may be weird but fascinating!
- Produce a whole lot of ideas: One object can be fantasized in several roles- a ruler can be a sword, a slide, a tent pole…there is no end to the possibilities. Juggle with words – building words, connecting meanings or similar sounding words or word games and get the creative juices flowing.
- Mix ideas: Try digging out a similarity between two different things, make a connection between two entirely mismatched scenes or draw a line of comparison between unrelated words. The more dissimilar the things or ideas, the more creativity it will take to join the dots.
- Role play: Role play is a great way to get into the shoes of the idea or character you want to create. Solutions to bothersome problems and a new perspective to a dying idea can all be a result of role play, making our imagination thrive and our creativity bloom.
