Inspiration and creative thinking aren’t just for artists, designers, novelists, and the like. Whatever field we’re working in, we all need a boost of inspiration from time to time. Creative thinking allows us to generate new ideas and innovations in response to the challenges of our work and daily life. You might be looking for a more efficient approach to your office workflow or you need to update your marketing strategy. Maybe you’re stuck for an approach to a difficult case. Perhaps you just need a way to get your kids to pitch in more with chores. Sometimes the ideas come easily, but sometimes you need a little push to find more innovative solutions.
Guides and lists to help spark creative thinking and problem solving abound. Some suggested solutions involve radical changes such as changing your workspace or employing daily exercises. However, you don’t necessarily need radical changes to get more inspiration in your day. You just need to harness the potential in some of the things you’re already doing.
Get Out of Your Head
When we’re faced with a challenge, we tend to focus on it, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. Sometimes powering through is the answer, but you might get better results if you switch off for a bit. There’s a reason people talk about getting their best ideas in the shower, for example. In that space, you’re comfortable, relaxed, and distracted, a combination that activates your brain in ways that change your usual patterns of thinking, giving you space to generate great ideas.
You don’t have to take a shower to generate new ideas, nor do you have to master the art of meditation. The trick is to find a somewhat monotonous task that doesn’t require a lot of conscious thought: exercising, driving, folding laundry, knitting a scarf. When you’re doing these things, you shift your focus. Your inner censor shuts off. Your mind is free to wander, while the task or challenge of the day runs in the background. Then inspiration strikes.
Capture the Moment
For every person who has an earth-shattering idea while they’re washing their hair or running on the treadmill, there’s a person who lost that idea while toweling off or refilling their water bottle. When the ideas come, it’s vital to record them somehow. Notebooks and notepads have some distinct advantages over electronic devices because they’re portable and cheap enough to keep in multiple locations, including showers and bedside tables. You don’t need anything fancy, just something you’re comfortable using–although you might consider a waterproof option for shower time.
At the same time, don’t discount the value of your electronics. If you’re using a smartphone to listen to music in the car or at the gym, that means you also have a voice recorder at the ready when writing would be a hazardous choice. You can also use the notes feature on your device, either typing or using a digital pen. Whatever methods work for you, the point is to develop habits that prepare you to record those great ideas when they surface during the course of the day.
Make Time and Space for Inspiration
While many of your daily tasks provide fertile ground for inspiration and creative ideas, you still need to give yourself time to engage in those tasks. For optimal results, you also want to be relatively relaxed and content. You can free up some of that time and reduce your stress by outsourcing records retrieval to The Records Company. Contact us, and you may find you have time to add more than creative thinking to your daily routine.