How to Boost Your Creativity: 10 Top Tips for Mindful Creatives

Ever wondered how to give your creativity a quick boost? Here are some tried-and-tested tips…

1.       Put on some music

It’s a familiar scenario: you sit down at your desk to write and find yourself staring at a blank page for hours. You give up and go to a café instead, and suddenly the ideas come flowing from your pen.

Ever wondered why? Well, the answer just might lie in the background chatter. Researchers led by Ravi Mehta at the University of Illinois asked subjects to carry out a series of creative tasks set against differing noise levels. They found that 70 decibels – a moderate level of background noise roughly equivalent to what you’d find in an average coffee shop – was ideal. If you can’t afford the price of a Frappuccino, some gentle music, played at a low volume, will do the job just as well.

2. Switch off technology

It’s estimated we receive an average 63,000 words of information a day – and spend around three quarters of our time every day receiving and processing information. With so much ‘noise’ it’s little wonder creative thoughts can easily get crowded out. Take some time each day to switch off everything – mobiles, computers, TVs – and simply focus on the here and now. Your brain will thank you for it.
See here for more tips: https://writemindfully.blogspot.com/

3. Get outside

It’s long been known that being out in nature stimulates a sense of wellbeing, but did you know it can also make you more creative?  In a 2012 study, neuroscientist David Strayer found that backpackers were 50% more creative after spending four days out on the trail. They also showed improved evaluation and problem-solving skills. So if you’re feeling stuck for new ideas, perhaps a trip to the local park is in order.

4. Keep your desk messy

Yes, really! A University of Minnesota study found that people are more likely to arrive at creative solutions to a problem when working in slightly disorganised (rather than spotlessly tidy) environments. Great news for messy people like me – though perhaps not so much for those who have to live with us!

5. Carry a notebook

The best ideas usually arrive when we’re most relaxed – which is often when we are least prepared for them. Writing is a bit like catching butterflies; you have to catch the ideas when they come, otherwise they float away. Carry a notebook and pen, or record snippets of poetry onto your mobile. Not all of them will be usable, but the more you write, the more chances you have of finding that one idea that will. Simple!

6. Change the media

Can’t write that story? Then why not sketch it? Picture refuses to be drawn? Then turn it into a poem…or a song…or a short film! Sometimes simply changing the media you’re working in can help shift your creative block, opening up new ways of self-expression. Connect with other artists, visit a gallery and challenge yourself to write a short poem or haiku on each painting, or listen to a piece of classical music and see what stories it tells.

7. Try some colour magic

If you’re feeling blocked, try looking at something green…or something blue. Psychological studies investigating the effects of different colours on the brain have found these two colours to be the most effective for stimulating creative thought. It’s thought the reason could lie with their association with nature. Green is linked with creativity and growth, whilst blue is thought to promote positive feelings such as openness, peace and tranquillity.

8. Daydream

Have you ever noticed your best ideas often come to you when you’re in the bath or washing the dishes? There’s a reason for that. When we’re engaged in simple, repetitive tasks, the rational/logical part of the brain becomes less active, enabling more creative/intuitive thoughts to take control. So next time you’re feeling ‘stuck’, take a break, do the dishes, go for a walk or have a shower. Just make sure you get back to your desk afterwards!

9. Exercise

‘A healthy mind in a healthy body’ – we all know the physical benefits of exercise, but it’s good for your brain too. A new study in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Colzato, Szaporo) shows that regular exercisers perform better on tests of creativity and are better at problem-solving than those who are less physically active. Time to get those running shoes on!

10. Meditate

Scientists are only just beginning to appreciate the full benefits of mindful meditation on the brain. Dutch cognitive psychologist Matthijs Baas found that mindfulness meditation improved people’s powers of observation, focus and ability to describe an event – all very useful skills for a creative writer. He concluded: ‘To be creative, you need to have, or be trained in, the ability to observe, notice and attend to phenomena that pass your mind’s eye.’