Creativity is an essential skill for navigating an increasingly complex world. And yet the path to innovative thinking can be surprisingly simple. To improve your own ingenuity, practice the following:
- Reduce stress, but not too much.Being overly relaxed won’t get your creative juices flowing. Embrace an in-between emotional state, neither complacent nor stressed out.
- Get out of the office.Walk to work, take public transportation, wander about to see how real consumers behave and spend their time. If you never take the time to fill your creative well, you’ll have nothing to contribute.
- Let your mind wander.Studies show that day dreaming stimulates a unique mental state. You’ll connect dots in new ways when you allow your mind to roam.
Adapted from “Creativity Lessons from Charles Dickens and Steve Jobs” by Anne Kreamer