For times when you find it difficult to remember what generally enhances creativity, and for times when you should be doing your work in the most creative way possible, I hope this list helps.
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You become more creative when you are tired
Unlike solving an analytical problem, creative insights come when we let our minds wander up and down, into seemingly unrelated areas. When it comes to thinking productivity, some of us identify with morning larks and others with night owls, coming to recognize that the peak of our problem-solving abilities is concentrated at certain times of the day. Creative thinking, however, works better in “non-optimal” moments.
So if you’re a morning lark, your brain might come up with the creative insights of a solution to an old problem at night when you’re tired. The reason behind this is that a tired brain is no longer struggling to filter out sources of distraction and is no longer trying to focus on one thing. It is therefore much more likely to wander off on all sorts of tangents. While this seems like a bad thing when you’re working, creative thinking benefits from distraction and random thoughts. Research has shown that we are better at “thinking outside the box” in our non-optimal moments.
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Exercise improves creativity
We know exercise is good for a lot of reasons, but now we’re bringing in one more. Studies have shown that exercise can improve our ability to think creatively. In a simple experiment, half of the participants did a physical exercise that they saw on a video recording, while the other half simply watched the movie. First group far surpassed the other one in terms of divergent thinking, coming up with several possible solutions to a problem formulated by the organizers for the second part of the experiment. Physical exertion lubricates the rusty joints of the brain and makes thinking more fluid. Exercise untangles and helps our conscious mind access new ideas that are buried in the subconscious.
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Ambient noise level – best for creativity
For a long time it was believed that silence might prove to be the best sound for creative thinking, but it seems that ambient noise levels are just the thing. Unlike loud music or silence, ambient noise levels have been shown to be perfect for enhancing creative thinking.
Silence actually aids concentration, so it’s useful for intensive problem-solving work or detail-oriented tasks. Creative thinking, on the other hand, requires a kind of ambient buzz, such as the sounds we might find in a coffee shop.
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Traveling abroad could improve creative thinking
In this regard, the studies are not very eloquent, but one of them showed that students who traveled abroad scored higher on tests of creative thinking than those who remained on the main campus all the time. This study followed a group of students who traveled from their college in the United States to take part in a summer study program in England.
It seems that this result is related to the differences in cultural and social norms to which the students are forced to adapt, stimulating their areas of creativity that were, until then, in a dormant state.
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Diffused light makes us feel freer
Personally, I love natural light in the workspace. And I like to say that I am a creative person. However, I was surprised to find research that says diffused, dim light can improve creative performance.
I read the results of six different studies, all of which showed that dim lighting increased creativity. The researchers found that when the light was gradually dimmed, the participants did not notice the difference in visibility and became more creative, making it much easier for them to find out-of-the-box solutions. The explanation comes from the subconscious feeling of feeling freer to explore.
