One great way to think more creatively is to switch your perspectives. Try looking at things from the perspective of a child. Or a superhero. Or a rock star. Or your favorite movie character. You can choose anyone — dead or alive, real or fictional, human or not. Just pick someone and step into their shoes for a minute to see things through their eyes. Another word for that is empathy.
You can also switch perspectives physically. Try walking into a new room. Or taking your work outside. Or maybe lying down to think. Or simply standing up for a while instead of staying seated.
Anything that causes you to see things in a new way can ignite your creativity. So give it a try and see what works for you!
Visual Thinking & Creativity: Idea Boxes
There's a myth out there that highly creative people just sit around and wait for inspiration to strike. Like a great big lightening bolt from the sky. Or a soft whisper from a mystical muse.
Truth is, creativity is not quite so passive. It is an active process. And there's a science to it, not just an art. There are even formulas, methods, and procedures for generating ideas and, equally importantly, evaluating them.
One classic way to create something new is to combine things. And a great way to do that is with an idea box. It's really easy to do - the image above shows one I used with kindergarten through jr. highers.
First, write out the parts of your project, problem or whatever you're thinking about. Next, make a list of thing that fall into each of those categories (random is good here!). Then, chose something from each list and put them all together. If you don't like what you end up with, reach back into your idea box until you find something you do like!
Visual Thinking & Creativity: It's Contagous!
There's a myth out there that highly creative people just sit around and wait for inspiration to strike. And while they wait, they really don't care about the real world.
Truth is, highly creative people know great ideas do not come from within. They come from connections made with something outside ourselves. Often, those connections are made with something created by another creative person.
That's why the highly creative notice, appreciate, and celebrate creativity wherever they find it. And they even seek it out. So if you'd like to be more creative, start appreciating creativity when you see it. You'll soon discover ideas really are all around you!
Visual Thinking & Creativity: Visualize it Richly & Colorfuly!
There's so much more to visual thinking than doodles and diagrams! While physical drawings are a great way to help you think and communicate more clearly, there's a lot happening in that brain of yours before you even pick up a marker. The ability to see things clearly with your mind's eye, your imagination, is where it all begins.
To strengthen your visual thinking skills and boost your creativity, look at the picture above. Really study it for a few minutes. Pay close attention to the details, not just the overall image. The close your eyes and form a really clear picture in your head of the picture you were just looking at. Describe it out loud as accurately and thoroughly as possible, including as many details as you can.
To take it a step further, when you open your eyes, draw the image you just described. If you get stuck, close your eyes and try to see the image of the original drawing in your head instead of going back to the original picture.
You can do this alone or with a partner. Just remember the goal is to see the image as clearly and accurately as possible. No judging!
This exercise not only strengthens your visual thinking abilities and boosts your creativity, it also increases your observational skills, gives your memory quite a work out, and makes you a bit more articulate, too!
Creativity: Creative Combinations
There's a myth out there that highly creative people just sit around and wait for inspiration to strike. Like a great big lightening bolt from the sky. Or a soft whisper from a mystical muse.
Truth is, creativity is not quite so passive. It is an active process. And there's a science to it, not just an art. There are even formulas, methods, and procedures for generating ideas and, equally importantly, evaluating them.
One classic way to create something new is to combine two things. Take the markers above, for example. Nothing new about a round tip marker. Or a brush tip marker. But when you put them both in one pen, you end up with a whole new product!
Visual Thinking & Creativity: Do it Daily!
It's commonly thought creative and artistic abilities are one and the same. And only a select few are born with these talents. Truth is, creative and artistic abilities are very different. But they are both skills that anyone can learn and improve with some practice. Daily practice.
That's what my new project is all about. Daily drawings combined with facts, tips, and tricks about creativity. All shared on social media with the hastag #2Draw2Day. Why the number 2? No more than 2 minutes is spent on the main drawing (digitizing takes waaaay longer!), and each creativity tip, trick, or fact takes no more than 2 minutes to read and understand.
Daily creativity boosters made quick, simple and fun! Use the social media buttons below to follow along!