Top 15 Ways To Increase Creativity

60% of CEOs surveyed cited creativity as an essential leadership trait. 

Almost six out of ten people believe their country’s economy benefits from creativity, and they are practicing different ways to increase creativity.

Creativity is essential in today’s world because it helps you develop innovative ideas and better decision-making strategies, especially in the field of business where you have to provide new and different products and services. Apart from that, being creative also helps in your mental well-being. Being creative helps your mind be satisfied and happy. Being creative also reduces stress and anxiety. 

So you see how important it is to be creative in today’s world, yet It has been reported that 75% of people do not live up to their creative potential. Some people are born with creativity, and some have to increase their creativity by making extra effort. 

We all have creativity in us somewhere. We need to dig it out. So here are some of the to increase your creativity. 

Ways to Boost Your Creativity

1. Sit Beside A Box 

Yup, you read it right. Vague, it may sound, but research has shown that sitting beside a box boosts your creativity. According to the University of Michigan and New York University( NYU) researchers, participants who were randomly assigned a task to complete, sitting beside a box, arrived at 20% more creative solutions. 

According to the research, this increases the process of thinking outside the box. Our mind has a unique way of responding to different kinds of information. When we act out a metaphor, we play a simple manipulation that leads our brain to think of ideas. 

2. Start Somewhere

We all are scared to start something. Will it be perfect? Will I be able to do it? Some of the thoughts occur in our minds before starting a project. It’s normal to have these doubts. The best way out of these doubts is to begin. Give your ideas a go. Doing this, you will see beaming confidence in yourself. Confidence is good for your mental health and thus increases your creativity. 

After you start working on your project, you can use any ways to improve the creativity we are discussing today. 

3. Try The Six Thinking Hats Process

The six thinking hats were first published by respected psychologist Dr. Edward De Bono. He used this method to help in the working of the government. Later he wanted it to be used by people as a practical tool while making decisions. He believed this process would help people when confused about what to do and how to think of creative solutions while dealing with specific problems. 

This process helps structure your creative thinking within a group or individually. Six different colored hats serve other purposes. White, yellow, black, red, green, and blue colored hat signifies a call for information, brightness, optimism, risk management, feelings and intuition, creativity, and thinking process, respectively. 

The purpose of this technique is to boost your creativity through some mental exercises. You have to wear and switch hats according to your requirements mentally. This helps reduce the anxiety about working on something new. 

4. Do Something You Love

Try things that you love or are passionate about. When we love our job, we can think of more creative approaches. While if you are doing something outside your liking, you will find it difficult to understand, and creative thoughts might not occur to you. 

So start selecting things you love and working on them. It can be anything, a hobby, a project, or a job. Develop different approaches to solve the problems related to them.

5. Go For A Walk

One of the healthy ways to increase creativity is walking. Walking will refresh you and give you a clear mind to work with. The routine of walking every day will help in resetting your mental health. Therefore walking is one of the healthy ways to develop creativity and helps you plan your day. 

Sometimes we need the cold breeze to brush on our face and viola! We are filled with ideas. Walking helps us feel relaxed and reduces stress. 

6. Sit And Meditate 

Guided meditation is also an effective way to increase creativity. Meditation increases mindfulness. You will be able to focus correctly and have positive thoughts. Mediation enables you to tackle setbacks and increase confidence. 

One of the tips to boost creativity is to work on your observation skills. And what will help you in this? Mindful mediation. It also increases awareness of the surroundings so you can work better on different projects. 

7. Get Insights 

When starting your journey of being creative, you need some assistance. 

You want the world to know about your creative innovation. Before that, try getting positive insights into your ideas. 

Why get insights, you may ask?

Imagine you are working hard on a project, but you are unfortunately stuck somewhere and can’t think of anything further. What will you do? Give up?

You will have to take assistance from people you trust. Talk to them and tell them your ideas. They are different people, and they will have different perspectives. 

8. Maintain Psychological Distance

You can take a break from a situation whenever you are stuck in a crisis. Create a distance. Take a break. This distance will help you understand the problem better and boost creative thinking, giving you a wide range of solutions. 

According to psychologists, construal-level theory discusses how psychological distances boost your creativity. 

According to this theory, the brain stimulates abstract thinking when we view our problems from a distance. While on the other hand, when we are near your problems, we have a detailed oriented approach. This is also an effective way to increase creativity.

Try looking at your problems from a distance; who knows, you will find a new perspective. 

9. Understand Color Therapy

One of the ways to increase creativity is color therapy. 

Colors have the power to regulate your mood. Colors can make you experience different emotions. Blue and green colors enhance and stimulate creativity, growth, inspiration, and relaxation. You can use this way to increase creativity by adding blue and green colored components around your working space. 

The theory of knowing the impact of color on mental health is known as color psychology. Color theory is used for various purposes. It is crucial to understand what colors go together. Color theory is also valuable to the mental health illness treatment program.

10. Listen To Slow Music

Slow music at around 70 decibels induces creativity in your mind. It boosts creative thinking and also relaxes you. With a calm mind, you can quickly think of different ways to solve a problem.

Music has always been an excellent tool for mental health regulation. 

11. Make A Creativity Journal

In your journey of boosting your creativity, you will come across different ideas you need to keep track of. Keeping a journal that tracks your creativity will be a great way to keep up with creative ideas that you think can be used in the future. It will help you understand how you have grown creatively. 

Read More: Journal Prompts For Kids

12. Daydream Once In A While

Whenever we do creative work and experience some block, we stop working and start using our phones. You can avoid that. 

We need to give our minds some rest. To relax and to think better. If you leave your mind idle, you can imagine things that will help you in your creative thinking. When you are bored and frustrated, try sitting and doing nothing. You will find that your mind works creatively to relieve boredom. 

Remember how we daydreamed and thought of all kinds of creative scenarios during our school days? Well never knew it might turn out to be so helpful!

13. Reward Yourself 

Have you seen how kids get happy when you reward them for their creativity? They start being more creative and innovative. 

That child in us never dies. To motivate yourself, reward yourself with some gift. It can be any gift, a day off, a movie, or just one of your favorite chocolates. By this method, you can make yourself eager to be more creative. 

14. Get Sufficient Sleep

The tried mind cannot think much. You cannot work correctly if you are sleep deprived. Sleeping for 8 hours a day is a must. People who rest well are more creative. Sleeping

through a problem is a way to enhance your creativity. In many workplaces, they have also implemented the concept of power naps which is extremely useful for their employees to work better. 

If you are facing any issues falling asleep, you can also try guided sleep meditation. 

15. Take Breaks

Though it is said to keep practicing to increase your creativity, taking a break from any task is essential if you face a creative block. Refrain from pressuring yourself too much. If you cannot think of any solution, go for a walk, stay away from the task for a while, meditate and let the load off you. Once you have taken a rest, you will see the problems from a new perspective, and your creativity will increase. 

Takeaway On Ways To Increase Creativity:

Creativity is a long process to learn. But it will come to you with time. Give yourself the time to think and explore. Reading books and engaging in different mindful activities can also increase your creativity. Keep stimulating your brain to boost your creativity. To increase your creativity, healthy mental health is essential. Negative thoughts will become a reason for your creative block.

When you have developed some creative skills, you should start challenging yourself more by working on projects requiring a more innovative approach to enhance your creativity. 

Take your time with the right idea. Start Now! Give yourself the freedom of experimentation. Your creativity will help you stay happy and satisfied with yourself. Mental health and creativity go hand in hand. Keep your mental health good by being more creative. Trust the process. You will slowly find it very easy to stimulate your brain for creativity.

So these were the 15 ways to increase creativity. Which one will you try first? Tell us in the comments. 

Want to know if you are born creative? Read this.

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