CREATIVITY NEEDS ACTION, NOT A SPARK
Contemporary insights in creativity research have shown that even our ‘EUREKA!’ moments are the culmination of a myriad of associations – all of which emerge from stuff we have picked up and stored throughout our respective lives. The extent of our creative output is not so much a function of just how much information we have picked up, but how diverse our experiences and ranges of learning are.
If we think of the so-called creative spark as a moment in which we ‘connect the dots,’ doesn’t it stand to reason that we first have dots to connect? Many of us clutch desperately to our ideas out of fear that we may not have another, but the good news is that your well may be deeper than you think . . . and you can deepen it further. The things we ‘know’ can be retrieved instantaneously, but truly new ideas are harder to arrive at. But we can train our brains to be better at generating new ideas by;
- Step Away From Focus – The more we focus on specific challenges, the more our conscious minds peck away at the shallowest connections between things we ‘know.’ The deeper, subconscious associations that can create new connections, require us to allow our brains achieve a relaxed state – for 10 to 15 minutes – in which we do absolutely nothing that requires or causes us to focus. No screens, no phones, no lyrics.
- Practice Daily – Establish a routine of solving creative challenges, preferably of a sort to which there is no ‘correct’ answer. You can work with a set of 3-5 challenges on which you spend 2-3 minutes each day to develop new solutions. Build on these over time, but don’t exceed 5 minutes on any challenge;
- Vary Your Experiences – Try to do new things, if possible, every week. Seek out new experiences to help break your mental function out of the ruts created by habits and routine, which decrease the brain’s ability to form new connections between distant pieces of knowledge and generate ideas;
- Acquire New Knowledge – The stuff we know forms the building blocks of creativity, and new material helps the preparation stage of creativity, so our brains have new knowledge to develop ideas, and new starting points to try new combinations.
Be intentional, apply the discipline, try something new, and let us know how it works for you.
Stevie
Nice piece. There’s a lot of new information on your referred “relaxed state” [point 1] usually pointing to stages of the brain. Most articles point to the human brain frequency which divides these states into: Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma & Theta.
Just wondering what your advise would be in achieving the stated relaxed state for 10-15 minutes and when [what time] of the day would you suggest to try reaching this state?
Max
A thoughtful question indeed! My understanding is that the “relaxed state” overlaps with the brain’s alpha and theta ranges, which are linked to calm alertness and idea incubation. The idea it is to step away from a focus-heavy task and engage in something light but pleasant – some sort of ‘auto-pilot’ activity – a short walk, deep breathing, gentle stretching, or even looking out a window. Certainly not reading, o viewing videos or the myriad of things we can consume electronically – just an intentional pause.
As for timing, this can be tricky to pin down from a prescriptive position, because it will likely be different from person to person. It’s most effective when your focus begins to dip — typically mid-morning or mid-afternoon — but it can be done any time you feel mental tension building. I hope it doesn’t seem too much like a cop-out, but you have to choose that yourself, really, based on your situational specifics, when you can take 10–15 minutes to let your mind shift gears so it’s primed for creative breakthroughs.
I hope this helps, and thanks again for your stimulating comments and questions, Stevie.