There is no recipe for creativity, but you can stimulate your brain to think faster and more creatively and come up with better ideas. Although great ideas can't be programmed or planned, you can open your mind and your way of thinking and be inspired to come up with better ideas.
Read on if you want to know how you can get into the habit of creativity.
Train your creativity for better ideas
Train yourself to think in crisis mode
Necessity is the mother of invention, as the old saying goes. Scientists have found that brain activity increases dramatically during a crisis. When a person is forced to solve a problem by an urgent circumstance, the creative half of the brain takes over.
The catch, however, is that we are (fortunately) not constantly in a crisis in everyday life, which means that less creative brain activity is required. So you have to train your thinking so that brain activity can be increased "on command". Practise spontaneously putting your brain into crisis mode in order to be inspired to come up with good ideas.
Good thoughts must be noted down
Many thoughts that run through your head throughout the day are taken out of context and are separate. As a result, it is easy to overlook what a thought could have led to if it had been given a context. That's why it makes sense to always write down small, seemingly isolated ideas. When you go through your notes later and see them all together, you may realise a connection that you couldn't see before.
This "idea list" is the first stage. When your brain is ready for creativity, it can recognise your ideas in the bigger picture and give them meaning.
Inspiration through practice
Just as regular exercise builds muscle, you can learn to let your ideas and inspirations grow and even direct them. Train yourself to constantly come up with new ideas, even if they seem unimportant. Take a few minutes every day to consciously look for inspiration in books or pictures. Write down the ideas and make a list of ideas. It is important to steer your thinking in a creative direction every day so that it becomes a habit.
Not rigid thinking, but distraction
If you are trying to come up with specific ideas for a specific problem, don't tense up. If you compulsively try to think creatively, your brain will block. Instead, take your mind off the problem and change your environment. Do something you don't normally do. The problem will stay in the back of your mind, but won't take priority. While you are distracting your senses, part of your brain is busy looking for new ideas.
Let your thoughts wander
When you let your thoughts run free, you put yourself in a state of relaxation. So it's no wonder that you often get better ideas while showering, bathing or going for a walk. During the relaxation phase, the brain releases more dopamine (also known as the "happiness hormone"). The more dopamine is released, the more creative thinking is stimulated.
