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What to do to be more creative and generate great ideas
All of us have been faced with a crisis of developing ideas at least once in our lives. This happens regardless of the season or the part of the day. It can be pretty distressing, especially if your job is ideas and creativity. We try to overcome it, force ourselves to think, but your mind seems to have gone on strike and nothing helps. In this article, I’ll go through 4 techniques to help you turn the lights back on in the idea factory that is your mind.
1. Don’t rush
Try not to hurry your mind along to overcome your lack of ideas. Be patient and just wait, I guarantee they’ll come. How do you get into this mindset when you have a deadline looming and your idea well is dry? You’ll feel especially pressured when your delay will immediately affect the project release.The truth is when you’re rushing to find that a-ha moment you are creating a negative environment for your creative mind. So just forget it! Forget that you have a deadline! Give yourself space and time to spend on developing your idea. When you give yourself the mental space to ideate the more likely you are to come up with that golden thread.
2. Be free
Sitting at your desk for 8 hours is not conducive to coming up with great ideas. If you’re stuck for ideas — go for a walk, play video-games, watch movies, listen to music, communicate, visit new places, or go get an alcohol buzz on if that’s your vibe. Perhaps the solution for your current idea challenge could be found in your favourite game, or that advert on the back wall in your favourite scene of your favourite movie, on the subway, at the market, your favourite coffee spot. The point I’m trying to make is, observe your external environment. Expose yourself to different kinds of stimuli. That won’t happen if you’re staring at a blank computer screen for eight hours straight.
3. Experiment
Don’t be afraid of redoing everything. If you are deadlocked — burn it all and try another way. borrow from other people’s ideas — good or bad, what didn’t work for them could work for you if you just finesse the idea a bit. Sometimes a little ‘borrowing’ is all you need to kick start your own genius ideas. Just imagine — this is the kind of thinking that can really make your project stand out from the rest.
4. Release the feels
It’s no coincidence that the most creative and extraordinary inventors of all time were considered to be particularly emotional people. Being in touch with how you feel and what makes you feel a certain way is your intuitive path to your best ideas. Perhaps think of it this way, if something moves you, it’ll probably move someone else too. So when you feel that flutter of emotion, recognise it as your call to action because under that feeling is probably a pretty awesome idea.
Follow these simple tips and I’m pretty sure you’ll realise that once you’re relaxed you’ll be able to finish what you need to and it’ll take you far less time than you expect.
Pavel Lysenko
Working Machines
An executive’s guide to AI and Intelligent Automation. Working Machines takes a look at how the renewed vigour for the development of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation technology has begun to change how businesses operate.
