4 Sure-Fire Ways to Stimulate Creativity

Sadly, bourbon is not one of them.

I’m not generally a fan of listicles, but this one from CNBC resonated with me: 4 sure-fire ways to stimulate creativity. They are:

• Change your environment
• Journal
• Exercise
• Talk it out

An excerpt on one suggestion from the article:

I’ve touted the benefits of journaling before and one of the reasons it is such a productive exercise is because it creates mental space for creativity.

It’s possible that there is something else on your mind that is choking your creativity, so try stream-of-conscious journaling. The practice of removing thoughts from your brain and leaving them on the paper will create more room for being creative.

For a writer, journaling is a natural. Many writers begin their day with free-writing exercises in a journal as a way of loosening up their creative muscles.

Also, I have posted before about The Tactile Experience of Writing:

So much of writing takes place when we’re not seated at our desk. Thoughts we have as we take a walk or drive our car. And, of course, much of it does take place while we are in front of our computer. All of that is writing, no doubt about it.

However, there is something special about the tactile experience of writing, an actual pen or pencil on actual paper, a writing utensil in your hand, scratching down words that appear not as some impersonal font on a computer screen, but rather in your very own handwriting.

Words. Created. On. Paper.

Changing one’s environment, Exercise, Talking it out, each has merit in jump-starting one’s creativity. But surely if you can only manage one, I suggest keep a journal and use it daily.

Free-writing frees you as a writer.

For more of the CNBC article, go here.