How to Be Creative: Activities That Boost Creative Thinking

Creativity is the ability to conceive new or imaginative ideas and turn them into reality. All creative work emerges from two actions: thinking and producing. Thinking is activating your imagination, allowing your mind to forge new connections between ideas, and exploring problem-solving approaches to an idea. The second is producing, which is the hard work involved in bringing those creative thoughts to fruition.

Creativity is a necessary skill for those in the arts, but it has application in other areas, too. For example, creativity is the foundation for many modern businesses and industries. Many industries and entrepreneurs value inner creativity, empathy, and understanding more highly than analytical thinking. Creative thinking helps businesses find new and inventive ways to stand out from their competition and add value to their goods and services.

Creative thinking is not limited to naturally creative people. Research shows creativity is less of a gift than it is a skill you can learn through regular practice. Regularly engaging the creative process can even improve creativity over time.

If you want to be more creative, try dedicating time each day to:

• Daydream. Mind-wandering, or daydreaming, might feel like procrastinating, but it frees the mind to explore creative problems to its furthest limits. Researchers suggest setting aside time to daydream by reducing distractions, relaxing, and letting ideas flow for a set number of minutes.
• Doodle. Many creative geniuses, including Pablo Picasso and Steve Jobs, stimulated their creative juices by doodling—creating a simple drawing without much effort or attention. Doodling provides a subconscious workspace for the brain to explore new problems and create new ideas.
• Exercise. Brainstorming during thirty minutes of exercise often helps break down creative blocks and fuel new ideas. Research shows moderate exercise has a positive impact on both creativity and cognitive thinking.
• Freewrite. Busy schedules can leave us feeling in a rut and unable to free up space in the brain for creative thoughts. To get started with freewriting, simply grab a piece of paper and let your words flow. The results might help you gain perspective and clarity. Many online sources provide daily writing prompts if you need ideas.
• Play video games. It might surprise you to learn video games help many young people develop their creativity and problem-solving skills. Research shows better social skills, improved concentration, motivation, and spatial skills are all linked to playing video games.

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