Although a vast majority of people think that creativity is something you are born with, the truth is a bit different. While we cannot deny that you need natural talent to a certain extent, stimulating creative thinking is indeed a matter of practice. If you give this thought a bit of thinking, you can realize pretty quickly that even the most fascinating and creative minds have faced the lack of creativity at some point in their lives.
Here are 6 effective exercises to increase creativity easily and faster than ever:
1. Finish the given picture
As the name suggests, this exercise involves getting a simple unfinished picture you need to complete yourself. The method has been used widely since the 1960s and has proven to be very helpful when you need to increase your creativity. It is fascinating to see how a few simple lines and shapes can inspire you to create a completely new picture.
Moreover, the method is highly helpful when you feel the pressure or the consequences of burnout. Taking your mind and thoughts off the burning issues and creating something surprisingly imaginative and eye catching will boost your confidence and your enthusiasm will make a difference.
2. Turn your whole world upside down
When you need to increase your creativity, it helps considerably to observe the items in your surroundings from a different perspective. For example, choose a picture of a person’s face. Then, do your best to draw the face upside-down. Although it might feel a bit unusual in the beginning, the aim of this exercise is to focus on lines, shapes, and colors instead of concentrating on presenting the face as realistic as you can.
Generally, leaving the tried and trusted methods and breaking out of your comfort zone motivates the brain to work intensively, make connections between items, and identify new patterns. Eventually, this practice cannot but result in new creative ideas and improved creativity as a whole.
“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London
3. What is it like to choose quantity over quality?
Not seldom are we said that choosing quality over quantity is always the right thing to do. However, when you feel stuck in a creative dead end, the opposite tactic is highly helpful. One of the exercises to increase your creativity involves 20-30 blank circles on a piece of paper, 2-3 minutes of your time, and a pencil. Your task is to fill in these circles with as many drawings as possible.
The aim of this exercise is to realize that in certain situations when quantity matters there is no time for self-censoring. The more ideas you get, the better. Finally, this is how creativity works. Brainstorming is what most often precedes choosing the right idea in the given circumstances.
4. The paper-clip test
The paper-clip test is what you can apply while trying to organize your space to make it more appropriate and inspiring for creative work. In this test, you need to list as many uses of a common object as you can in only 2 minutes.
The aim is, firstly, to remember the situations you most often use these items in and then possibly come up with some new uses as well. Once you start dealing with this test, you will be surprised by the number of various new ideas you get through an activity as simple as this one.
5. Turn recycling into abstract art
You think this is not possible? Well, you better think twice. One of the exercises to increase creativity involves exploring your recycling bin, choosing a few items you find there, and creating an unusual construction. You might need a pair of scissors, some glue, or tape. Although you might encounter some difficulties in the beginning, you will soon be amazed by the products of your creative work.
A variant of this exercise is to use your junk mail to form a new piece of writing with the information you find there. Simply connect the ideas, terms and phrases you come across and explore ways to combine them into a unique piece of writing. Understandably, it will take some time to get used to this method, but the highly humorous, fascinating results will make you want to repeat this activity frequently.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
6. Physical exercise
Not only are physical exercises useful when you are overloaded with work, but they also increase your creativity. The type of exercises you choose will depend on your interests, preferences, amount of free time, and many other factors.
Physical exercises do tire your body, but they also sharpen your mind and put your brain in an active mode. Activity relieves stress and stress is, as we all know, one of the greatest enemies of inspiration and creative thought. Whether you like yoga, hiking, cycling, or any of the numerous team sports, stop making excuses and get down to work. You will not only boost your creativity but make your lifestyle healthy as well.
Generally, creativity is connected to art. However, we often forget that it is present in many other life spheres as well. Creative thinking helps us solve problems, find solutions, adapt to new circumstances and integrate into new communities. When observed in this new light, it turns out that creativity is one of the most important skills we need to master to improve the quality of our life.
Although at times we do feel too troubled to pay close attention to this aspect of our living, it turns out that applying exercises to increase creativity on a regular basis is a mere necessity. Whether you’re an artistic soul, a banker, a medical worker, or a businessman, creativity will help you deal with difficult situations on a daily basis.
