Famous genius physicist with German roots – Albert Einstein – once said: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” It’s hardly possible to disagree with the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics. Even a scientist who is supposed to have a pragmatic approach understood the power of creativity. His saying allows us to define creativity as the driving engine for innovations.

There is a belief that you are either born with a creative personality or not. However, it’s an arguable question. The potential of a human brain, which is, actually, a muscle, is unlimited. This brings us to the point that one can become a creative person. Here are some creativity exercises that will help you to boost creative thinking and open new horizons of your imagination.

Allow Time for Creativity in Your Schedule

Creativity exercises are all about thinking out of the box. But it’s much better to adopt a steady approach. You should treat this practice as if you are working on your body shape. Decide the days and time for exercises and stick to the schedule.

You shouldn’t spare several hours. It can be even 15 minutes to solve brain teasers. Just download an app with intricate puzzles to your mobile, set a timer and reminder, and immerse yourself in the game. With time, it will become natural. You won’t even need any reminder.

Play with Kids

This may seem silly to you. But don’t underestimate children when it comes to imagination. To make sure that their creativity level is higher than yours, just spectate them playing. Kids know no limits. They can imagine the whole new world without any physical objects and explore it.

How to increase creativity while playing with kids?

• Enjoy role-play games, where you become explorers of an ancient surrealistic world.
• Paint together – choose an object and draw it with children or abandon the limits and see where the imagination leads you.
• Look at the clouds and share what they look like.

Use Quantity over Quality Approach

The paradox of working on creativity is that you have to aim for quantity rather than quality. Being stuck on the same design in the pursuit of perfection blocks all the other channels to generate more ideas. You should become the idea factory that produces as many of them as possible.

If it’s hard for you to comprehend, try out the 30 Circle Exercise. The principle is simple: draw thirty identical circles and fill in as many as you can within three minutes. Don’t waste time on thinking about the pattern. Delegate all the power to the flow of your imagination. It’s one of the best creativity exercises for designers.

Come Up with New Ideas Every Single Day

Exercises require money. You may need to buy special equipment to start developing a skill. Creativity is an exception. The only thing you need is motivation and some time. To increase creativity, you can practice generating new ideas daily.

Use a spare time while walking, being in a shop, or lying in bed before sleep to come up with new ideas. You can think about something related to your work. For example, a creative design for a current project. However, this isn’t compulsory. Try to find ten new ways to use stickers/pen/old dress/etc.

Keep Working on the Same Design

Working out a design for many products is much easier rather than for one. Why so? People usually get stuck on one and the same idea. It means that if you have already designed an outdoor hanging sign, you will find it hard to imagine another pattern.

Since creativity meaning is inventiveness, you should aim for it. When you manage to redesign the sign over and over again, consider the goal has been achieved. Keep in mind: new ideas take time and inspiration. Don’t go too hard on yourself.

Find Your Inspiration

Many people think about how to boost creativity during crisis. Actually, there are many ways. What you have to think about is how to boost creativity during the identity crisis. It’s a far more complicated task. Here the power of inspiration comes.

Take time to explore the depth of your soul and body. Find peace within yourself and in everything around you. Immerse yourself in the atmosphere that makes your soul sing. It can be as simple as listening to music or roaming around the forest. Keep searching until you find what lifts your mood up.

Stay Hungry for Knowledge

You probably wonder what the connection between learning something new and creativity is? It’s obvious for scientists. According to some research, investigating unfamiliar topics, and therefore, broadening the knowledge, triggers creative thinking. In other words, it fosters divergent thinking and new ideas.

A high level of specialization in a particular sphere is what distinguishes highly creative people from others. The field of study doesn’t matter. You don’t have to become a true specialist in a single topic only. The main message is to stay hungry. Keep investigating, reading about history, studying habits of prominent people, or anything else.

Avoid Monotony

If you need a boost to increase creativity, start from changing the environment you live in. This is a working creativity booster. First of all, you have to reimagine the furnishing and interior design. You don’t have to change the design completely. A mere rearrangement of your desk will seal the deal.

Another decent practice is implementing small, funny challenges every day. For example, ban a word and don’t use it in your speech for 15 minutes/ one hour/ a whole day. Do the same trick with a letter. This will make your brain go out of the comfort zone and look for brand-new ways to explain yourself.

Practice Art

Art is a way to increase creative thinking. While spending hours in front of a famous painting can enhance your motivation, practicing art in all its forms is an excellent way to increase creative thinking. Remember the only rule: no rules applied!

Here are some interesting ideas on creativity exercises:

Paint

This is the first thing to come up to mind for many people when they think about art. Here are some ideas for you to try out:

• Try painting with a non-dominant hand. It’s usually governed by the right side of the brain, which is responsible for creativity.
• Place any object in front of you and try to draw. You can do this over and over again, implementing something new.
• Try making a sketch or doodling. Just see where the imagination brings you.
• Paint with closed eyes. Although the result might not impress you, it’s a good practice for your brain.

DIY – Do It Yourself

The title speaks for itself. Get creative and do something with your hands:

• Take several sheets of paper, scissors, glue, and try to create a flower, horse, building, etc.
• Collect the unnecessary clothes and imagine as if you are shooting a life hack video. Try to find brand-new ways to use old clothes or make something else. For example, transform a dress into a nice top with shorts.

You can choose any raw materials. The key is to invent something.

Write

Some people find it hard to express their thoughts in a consistent way. This is a challenge worth taking up. Writing is as good for our imagination as painting. It also develops creativity. Here is what you can try:

• Write down all your thoughts. You can start just from this. Later on, move to another level. Write down your thoughts in a funny way. Or start every sentence with a particular letter. Another idea is to ban all the words with a certain letter.
• Try writing a poem. It sounds hard if you haven’t done this before. Don’t go for an A4 poem from the very beginning. Start with several lines. For example, four or six. With time, it will become native, and you will be able to write more.

Cook

Cooking is art. Don’t be afraid to trust your guts and experiment a bit. It goes without saying that you have to keep in mind safety precautions. Don’t mix incompatible ingredients.

If you take a closer look at all the advice, you will notice that developing creativity is easy. You don’t need to search for sophisticated ways and equipment to increase it. The golden rule is to stay inventive and persistent. Once you make it a habit, you won’t have to remind yourself about it.

Please, share your ideas on how to increase creative thinking in comments. We would like to hear about your personal life hacks! Stay hungry! Keep being inventive!