by Helen Krag
A large part of my role at work is concerned with generating ideas and thinking creatively: designing training; writing proposals; penning articles; creating talks; compiling my monthly news digest. Furthermore, because of the way I work (I’m based at home), I often do these activities alone. I enjoy creative thinking, yet it’s a function I have to be in a particularly resourceful state to tackle effectively. So, how do I access that?
It probably won’t come as much of a surprise to you when I tell you that my least resourceful state comes from sitting rigidly at my computer waiting desperately for the ideas to come! So what methods do I use to access resourceful states? Here are my top 3 …
I should preface my observations by saying that creativity for me takes many forms. In this exercise I was interested to understand the circumstances in which I am most likely to:
- Generate lots of ideas from scratch (related to a specific outcome).
- Generate my best ideas (the ‘Eureka’ ones!).
- Create collections of ideas that fit together cohesively (for example, when I write my monthly news digest, I usually work to a theme. I then seek lots of mutually supportive ideas about what I could include to best illustrate the key points I want to share).
- Add details to frameworks I have already created.
- Know when I’ve created something I am proud of.
So with those criteria in place … drum roll please … my top 3 ways to generate creative thinking are:
- Going out for a run (typically 50 minutes to an hour).
- Soaking in the bath (yes, really!).
- Wakeful moments in the early hours of the morning (I’ve learned to embrace them rather than curse them).
There are some distinctions within these three scenarios.
For example, I find running is particularly helpful for creating outlines and frameworks. I generally pose a question or a challenge to myself before I go out, and then the only rule is to be completely open to what comes to mind. I find all manner of helpful thoughts float to the surface. Some of them are rather mundane – such as recalling when my dental appointment is due, or making a mental list of things I need to buy later on at the supermarket! However, provided I take care not to force anything, I generally find my brain addresses the challenge I have posed. I have designed outlines for several talks and workshops when I’ve been out for a run – it’s my preferred method when I’m starting from scratch.
Soaking in the bath is more likely to generate great ideas. For example, I recently had a fantastic idea for a networking opportunity I had not previously thought of.
Wakeful moments in the early hours are most likely to bring to mind things I had forgotten (I keep a pen and paper by my bedside for that reason). I also find this time useful for adding details to a framework that is already designed.
I’ve found it valuable to bring these scenarios to my consciousness, because I am clearer now how best to access creative thinking.
What are yours?
How do you allow space for yourself to be creative? What is going on for you when you have good ideas, or you’re particularly creative? If you work in an office with others, you may have more restrictions around how you put aside creative thinking time, so how do you do it?
Try this
Choose a period of time, maybe a few days, or a week, and record your moments of creativity in a log. What patterns do you notice?
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