Whether you’re an artist, an entrepreneur or just someone with an Instagram account and a few hobbies, it always helps to think more creatively. By learning to think your way around difficulties (or into new areas), you’ll open up new avenues in life – and improve your problem-solving ability. Here’s the simple way to get it done.
Take time to meditate
Sure, it sounds a bit faddish, a bit spirulina-and-spiralisers, but meditation has worked for everyone from Shaolin monks to Clint Eastwood – and it’ll work for you. Dozens of free apps offer to talk you through the process – Headspace, which offers ten free ten-minute sessions to start you off, is the popular option – but if listening to someone telling you to “follow your breath” still feels awkward, transcendental meditation is another option. Sit somewhere comfortable (with practice you’ll be able to do it on the bus), close your eyes and repeat a two-syllable phrase that works for you, like “nature” or “peaceful”.
Harness the showerthought
You know showerthoughts: those things that occur to you when your brain’s half-busy elsewhere, usually while you’re driving, cooking or rinsing shampoo out of your eyes. Keep these flowing by choosing points of the day when you’re not distracted by other stimuli – making time to have a stroll round the office, or maybe to chug a quick drink of water. Advanced level: keep a notebook on you for scribbling these thoughts down.
Try to fail
If you’re like most people, you probably thrive on acceptance, approval and success. This isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes it gets in your way. For instance, if you’re trying to pitch ideas or change your body, it can actually slow the process down.
Instead, aim to fail: get as many ideas out there as possible, and aim to get 50 or 100 rejections in a year. You’ll be in good company – Stephen King used to keep rejection slips pinned to his bedroom wall before becoming a best-selling author. Samuel Beckett put it best: “Fail, fail again, fail better.”
Write a daily ideas list
Trying to think of a podcast to start, a book you can write or a way to make money outside of your regular job? Stop trying to think of a single perfect idea and work on a whole bunch of terrible ones. Grab some sticky notes and scribble out ten or even 20 ideas, with no pressure on yourself for any of them to be good.
Sometimes, it helps to force yourself to get all the good and bad ideas out so you can get to the really creative ones, but more than anything else, it’ll work your “idea muscles” to make you better at on-the-spot thinking.
Read a lot
The most successful entrepreneurs, thinkers and creators read. Usually a lot. It may seem like a daunting task but if you aim to get through 20 pages a day, you’ll crank through 7,300 in a year, and that’s a lot of books. Think self-help in the morning, and fiction – which studies suggest improves empathy – before bed.
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