Increasing your self-worth is what matters the most. You badly want to improve yourself but you’ve noticed that there is something wrong with your mindset and habit. You always think that you don’t have any ideas, where in fact; you just need to boost it. Isn’t it kind of annoying and disappointing when you have a lot of things to do but your mind says “Urgh, there’s no way out!” or “I don’t have any ideas!”? Well, scientifically your brain provides different ideas but make sure to find its way out.
Creativity requires thinking outside the box. Sometimes when working at home, you might get displeased when your mind is not functioning. For example, in your school work, you can probably stare at your personal computer with a blank screen for about 1hr and 30 minutes but guess what? You don’t have anything in mind. If you often experience this as much as you wish to strengthen some techniques to make your day more productive, you have chosen the right page.
Here are some quirks that might help you ratchet up your routine – according to science:
Visit Your Happy Place
Visiting your happy place makes you relax and think positively. I am fond of visiting the seashore, where I am mesmerized by the beauty of the crystal clear water. It is beneficial to allow yourself to dwell in the place that makes you happy, calm, and comfortable.
You can go to high mountains for hiking; you can visit tea shops, book stores, or other places that grant you peace of mind and focus. Let your mind rest a bit and wander. Try an environment that lightens up your mood and let ideas flow throughout the day. Do it habitually.
A study showed that people were more creative when they were in their happy place, and it’s easy to create a happy place when you’re in an environment where you’re surrounded by things that inspire you. Some places to visit include museums or zoos, or just standing outside your home with a book and a cup of coffee.
Creative people often stick to an idea even when it feels like they’re spinning their wheels. But visiting your happy place can help you get unstuck, and then you’ll be able to start thinking creatively again. When the mind is at peace, it’s ready to experiment, and the creative process can begin.
There are many techniques that stimulate creativity. Some techniques are as simple as hanging from a swing or sitting in the sun. Others involve taking time for yourself, such as spending a few minutes meditating or journaling about your most creative ideas. All of these methods have been scientifically proven to increase creativity.
Meditate
Meditation might be another great strategy to allow creativity to dwell in you. Meditation helps you focus your mind and to channel your thoughts in a new direction. It involves breathing in and out to compose to accept the freely imaginative concept.
If you encounter difficulties in setting your mind right due to anxieties and stress, you can add up an instrumental song, calming breeze like what I did to loosen up. According to researchers at the Institute for Psychological Research and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, meditation helps people improve their sense of creativity.
People who meditate have been shown to experience reduced levels of stress, increased physical and psychological well-being, and greater creativity. Meditation also gives you a sense of focus that is helpful in achieving goals. It can also provide other benefits like reducing anxiety and depression.
There is a popular trend associated with creativity (especially for artists, writers, and musicians) called the “creative block”. This can be the result of stress, lack of sleep, or being stuck in a creative rut. Creative people have found that some way to stimulate their creative juices is by taking a 15-minute break every day to meditate. They typically practice what’s called “open-monitoring meditation.” This means they focus on their breath while watching the outside world go by.
Set Your Own Deadlines
Personally, I procrastinate because in my own experience, meeting the deadline will make my mind awake and allow ideas to flow. Well, that’s reality, but it should not be tolerated. Set goals for yourself by determining your own due dates and work to accomplish them in the allotted time.
Some people wish they had more time to spend on their creativity. However, deadlines can actually help you increase your productivity. A deadline is an artificial restriction that pushes you to work harder and smarter. When the deadline ends, the restrictions are lifted and you’re free to be creative again. Some studies show that deadlines can improve a person’s creativity by up to forty percent!
When you set deadlines it allows your brain to process new ideas and come up with new solutions. It’s important to set deadlines that are realistic so that you’re not feeling too overwhelmed and then giving up on the task. Additionally, you can use this time for self-reflection and creative writing so that your ideas are more clear and organized in the end.
Deadlines are a great way to get creative juices flowing. Studies have shown that each deadline increases the amount of work produced by people and decreases the number of errors made. Deadlines can be set for yourself or left open-ended so that you need to be creative in completing work.
Focus on the Trees and the Sky
Walking and looking at the gradient sky combined with greenery views gives you a moment to soak up its beauty. According to a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, seeing green before completing a task yields greater creativity. Research shows that you only need to look at it for a few seconds to get results.
If there is no green around you, focus on the blue or look up at the sky. According to a University of British Columbia study that looked at colors and advertising, blue is also a go-to color for boosting the ability to think creatively. So next time you’re stuck on ideas, glance at the green trees or blue sky for a few seconds to refresh your mind for a new start.
Nature is so beautiful that it can make us feel inspired to create. The powerful feeling of the natural world can be used as a technique in order to boost creativity and our passion for life. There are different ways that artists, writers, musicians, and painters use nature as their muse.
There is an infinite amount of creativity to be found in the world around you. By taking time to notice these little things, you can improve your own creative process and enhance your mental health. From observing the beauty of nature, to simply listening to music, creativity is everywhere. So take a walk outside or find something that makes you happy and allow yourself to be inspired.
High levels of creativity are a byproduct of how our brains work. We naturally think in new and innovative ways that often lead to major breakthroughs in technology, science, and art. What we need is the ability to look at something with new eyes, be it a flower or a brick wall. Many people do this through meditation, however, there’s also scientific evidence suggesting that getting outside into nature can have these exact same effects on creativity.
Avoid the Office Competition
Building a competition towards your colleague adds up stress and anxieties. If you force yourself to compete against each other, creativity will not foster. According to a study from Washington University in St. Louis, women work best in small teams, where their creativity, for one, rises. Instead of putting a gap, build your bond with them so that your creativity will radiate to its beauty.
There was a study at the University of Pittsburgh that found that office competition negatively impacts creativity and productivity. A group of engineers who competed for their best project had less creative ideas and did not produce as much work as those who didn’t compete.
Office competition can be stressful and unsuccessful. Oftentimes, it is due to the competitive nature of individuals, which leads to many conflicts in the workplace. It is important for employees to embrace their own uniqueness, even if it means rejecting office competition. The more people are able to focus on their own creativity in a relaxed environment, the more productive they will be throughout their workday.
You can increase your creativity by avoiding office competition. We are usually in such a hurry to get things done that we don’t stop and think of the possibilities. It is important to stay calm and take your time when doing tasks. This will allow you to think outside of the box and come up with new ideas.
Use Dim Lights
If you used to think that turning up the light makes your mind at ease and in a stable manner, we believe the same way. I use turning up the light when studying because I assumed that it keeps my mind awake, but that’s not the reality. A dim light is a strategy if you are trying to do creative ideas. Keep in mind, though, that if you want to finish something creative, do it with dim light, and if it’s about logical reasoning better do it in a high amount of light.
To boost creativity, do not aim for full illumination. Studies have shown that dim lighting is key to enhancing creative thinking and the brain’s ability to focus on it. Dim light has been proven to increase the production of melatonin, which is a neurotransmitter associated with increased creativity.
The left side of your brain is more active when you are in bright light. Your right side is less active in the dark, which can make creative thinking difficult. Dimming the lights of your workspace can help increase your productivity by stimulating both sides of your brain.
It’s been proven that when people are exposed to bright light, they become less creative because it causes a decrease in melatonin – the sleep hormone. When you use dim lights, it can help your brain produce more melatonin and achieve better levels of creativity.
Create When You’re Angry
Maybe it’s ironic to complete workloads if you’re angry, but according to research, strong situational factors including negative emotions can result in powerful reflective thought. Have you ever wondered that if you’re angry, you have a lot of things to say and a lot more thoughts to reflect on? Multiple studies say that it increases creative productivity. I am not telling you to keep yourself angry to make creative things, but take this as an opportunity to finish your work rather than doing nothing.
There is evidence that the best time for creativity is when you are upset. Upset can be things like dealing with difficult issues, confronting people, and setbacks. Research shows that “creativity jump starts when the brain is in an aroused state of action.” Ideas will always be more likely to form in your mind if you talk them out, create lists, or perform creative tasks.
The way to channel anger is not to lash out at others, but instead to unleash it into your work by making it productive. Anger is energy; when used in productive ways, it can help you produce more and give you more creative ideas. This comes from the fact that those feelings drive you to do something and if they’re not used productively, then they’ll be wasted.
Final Thoughts
Creativity is really fun. You discover new concepts and ideas. It allows you to think outside the box. There are times that your mind is not in the right place and it’s not in a stable condition. You just need to relax and sort things out. With the help of some scientific methods, it would be easier for you to boost your creativity. After trying out these helpful tips, you would be like – from “I’m out of ideas” to “a blank paper would not be enough”.