Do you feel blocked, stalled, or overwhelmed - and lacking in creative ideas? It happens to everyone (me included) so you're not alone.
Sometimes you just need a little creative help, or a "creativity boost".
Read on. I have a SIMPLE solution for you that will get those creative ideas flowing freely! 😉
I'll share easy Creative Thinking Techniques with you in this post, but first: an interesting tidbit on WHY you get mental blocks or your creativity seems to come to a screeching halt...
There's talk of a major decline in overall creativity in Americans over the last couple of decades. Anyone care to guess WHY? 😛
Have you ever noticed that some of your best ideas come to you at the most random times? When you're in the shower, or driving down a long stretch of road for example - or maybe you even wake out of a dead sleep with a brilliant idea!
The solution? GET BORED!
Yes, get bored. 😉
You'll actually get your best ideas when you're "bored". Or rather when you're not focused on anything specific, or have a variety of things pulling for your attention.
Boredom is a luxury in our society filled with cell phones, social media, television and other constant stimuli.
The next time you feel blocked, overwhelmed, or totally lacking in creative ideas... turn off everything, grab a nice cup of coffee, go to a nice quiet space - and don't think. Don't try to come up with creative ideas. Relax. Just sit. Stare off. And continue until your mind stops racing, gets quiet, and can actually get back into creative mode.
I love beach trips for this reason. Something about staring out at the ocean can do wonders for your brain, and your creative inspiration. Here at home I'll usually walk a mile or so down to the dam, where the sound of the water drowns out all the noise of town - and the noise in my mind - and I can sit on a big rock at the bottom and just watch the water fall.
And when I can't get out, or prefer not to? I make it a point to wake up early enough to enjoy the sunrise from my back deck with a hot cup of coffee. No distractions, no laptop or iPad or smartphone - just me and the sunrise.
An article on Newsweek explains why American creativity scores are falling:
"creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward."
"It’s too early to determine conclusively why U.S. creativity scores are declining. One likely culprit is the number of hours kids now spend in front of the TV and playing videogames rather than engaging in creative activities."
Consider what your typical day looks like, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. How much downtime do you get in a typical day?
Interesting factoid: When you're "bored" your brain will start processing stored information, instead of dealing with the stimulus at hand. It will process thoughts, data, ideas and other things that have been pushed back to deal with what's in front of you at any given time. This is the reason you get those great ideas in the shower, on long road trips, or when you're otherwise not actively engaged in a brain-stimulating (or distracting) activity or environment. They aren't necessarily "new ideas" but rather a collection of things you've stored in your brain over time... that finally have an opportunity to come together as a single brilliant idea or concept.
When you feel "blocked" it's often just a matter of being over-stimulated and overly distracted. Stop. Get Bored. It's the simplest solution to get back into Creative Thinking mode, and get those awesome ideas flowing again!
The article on Newsweek I referenced above suggested:
"To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result)."
Creative Thinking Exercises:
To spark creative ideas, start by changing your usual environment. That may mean going somewhere you enjoy - the park, river, ocean, etc - or just going to a different (quieter) room in your home. Dress comfortable, and make it a point to go with the intention of doing nothing. Relax and just BE. Allow your mind the time and opportunity to stop processing everything at hand, and explore "stored information".
Make sure you take a notepad with you. I suggest paper & pen because a digital device is too tempting as a point of external focus. 😉 You want to give your brain the chance to focus internally, without constant stimuli.
Once you've relaxed physically and your mind stops racing, stay put and continue to focus internally. As ideas or thoughts come to you, jot them down on your notepad. They may be random or disjointed ideas, but write them down anyway as they come to you. Don't try to process them or turn them into anything more, simply note your thoughts as they come to you. Later you can take those notes and combine them into an actionable idea or concept.
You may just have a brilliant a-ha! moment in the process, or find that "all the little pieces" come together into a single concept for you. That's great!
Whatever it is, get up and go do it while it's fresh in your mind and the idea excites you! Or at least sit down and map out the strategy or plan in detail.
There are many "creative thinking skills" you can develop to help you with creative writing, or coming up with creative ideas, but I've found this to be the simplest and most effective "creative thinking technique" - and it's something anyone can easily do.
What about you? When do you get your BEST creative ideas?
I challenge you to schedule in some time to "get bored" this week... and let some magic happen. 😉
Leave a comment below with your best method of generating creative ideas, or your experience with this simple creative thinking exercise. I'd love to hear what works for you and/or your experience with "intentional downtime"!
Best,
p.s. It can be really helpful to get an outside perspective, to brainstorm with someone else who may add ideas to yours, or to get feedback on your writing or your plans. Members of my Private Brainstorming Group find this extremely helpful as they work on various projects or marketing strategies. I offer creative ideas, creative angles, and new concepts to consider both in our weekly Brainstorming Hour sessions and in the members private forum. Join us! I'd love to help YOU spark some fun, new creative ideas in your business. 😀
As a member you'll also get complimentary access to my Niche Success Blueprint weekly training modules, which offer many creative thinking exercises to help you come up with great content ideas and fresh ways to monetize your blog or business.
If you prefer self-paced learning, the Niche Success Blueprint is a great alternative! Click that link to learn more about it, and read comments from other readers.
About Lynn Terry
I agree. I used to get some of my best ideas while waiting for my son at his speech therapy when he was little. With wifi and smartphones these days, it's much harder to get that kind of bored anymore without deliberately choosing it.
That's true.
It's a good reason to get away from the house sometimes. And retreat into nature.
Great article with encouragement for all. Sound advise, and help. Enthusiasm is often comes and goes in an online business. There are advantages to working from home. I have given another recommendation for you also.
Thanks for sharing your success.
Linda
Hi Lynn:
Up until a year ago we lived seconds from the beach and when things bothered me or I needed some inspiration I would head to the beach and sit in my car and think or just stare out at the ocean. If the tide was in full, I would get out of my car and sit on the beach listening to the waves crash onshore, it was wonderful and it was very therapeutic and helpful.
Now we live in a city so I use the park as a place to retreat to, the singing of birds and rustling of the leaves are helpful and therapeutic. The only downfall is there are a lot of interruptions from the noise of people as we are in a more populated area than before.
I am over due for my trip to the beach again - thanks for sharing Lynn - awesome post! 🙂
The beach does it for me every time! Great tips! I love heading out to the back deck with a cup of coffee, notepad and pen. I go with no intentions and come back with great inspiration.
You know Lynn, now you mention it, the more I try to think when I'm feeling blocked and overwhelmed...the more blocked and overwhelmed I become.
And when I'm least expecting it, the ideas begin to flow. Usually, it's when I'm sat out relaxing in the sun. Or I may take a couple of days of to totally unwind 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Kerry
When I am at our cottage on the lake, I take time to sit in our chairs and watch the lake. It was never my intention to make this about anything other than relaxing. But what inevitably happens is that after an hour or two, I start to dream up all kinds of projects, ideas, things I want to explore more. I used to think that it was not good because it was just making my task list longer if I followed through. But now I know that some of my most successful moments started from something I was dreaming up while looking at the lake.
Great post. What made you decide to write it?
It was inspired by a topic brought up in Brainstorming Hour (which I host twice a week). It was such a fun topic, I agreed to write a post on it here. 😀
I usually carry a small notepad with me because, I agree, the best ideas come when you are not doing anything. I recently spent a weekend in the Florida Keys unplugged (mostly) and came back home full of ideas. We really need to remember to take time out on a regular basis whether it's a walk in the park, a massage or a nap in the hammock. Your Brainstorming Hour always gets the ideas flowing for me too 🙂
I often get my most creative ideas when I'm zoned out. And that happens a lot throughout the day.
When I'm doing boring, menial household tasks that don't require any or much thinking. Just moving my body.
Like dishwashing, vacuuming, etc.
When I'm waiting in line, having a shower, lying down, etc.
One thing that I've found that helps a lot is ...
... make sure you have an intense brainstorming or idea generation session before you put yourself into "bored" mode.
When you start getting "bored" your mind will connect those ideas you generate and form creative new ones.
The reason I say this because ... if you've been bored the whole day long, and your mind has been mentally inactive the whole day through, you likely won't come up with much. Lol.