For those of us who are able to think creatively, the world becomes a more intriguing place – but how do you train your brain to think outside of the box?
According to The Australian Council For Educational Research, creative thinking is the capacity to generate many different kinds of ideas, manipulate those ideas in unusual ways and make unconventional connections in order to outline novel possibilities that have the potential to elegantly meet a given purpose. Sounds fancy, right?
In reality, the types of people who are able to think creatively are all around us – and they’re not always artists, poets or photographers. In workplaces right around the nation, if not the world, creative thinkers are not just capable of brainstorming and testing new ideas, but are also able to apply a sense of innovation as a means to solve problems.
For brands trying to make their mark online but struggle to think creatively, they may come up against road blocks with social media strategies, content marketing solutions and even solving business operational issues that continuously pop up on a day to day basis. If this resonates with you, the good news is that the ability to think creatively is something we’re actually all born with, but is a skill that just needs some regular maintenance and a proactive approach.
How To Boost Your Creative Thinking Skills
Did you know that roughly 61% of employees say they’re expected to come up with creative ideas or new ways to do things at work, but only 30% of those same employees said that they were given time to think or discuss new ideas daily?
At its core, creative thinking is intentionally gaining new insights and different ideas through existing information. What’s more, is that it’s actually incredibly rare to come up with a completely original idea on your own without any third party influence, subconscious or not.
To think creatively, keep in mind that this part of your brain is like a muscle – the more you work it, the stronger and better it gets. While some level of discipline is required, the good news is anyone can start small with some easy ways to improve this skill, no matter how you intend on applying it.
Take A Stroll Outside – Have you ever found yourself staring at your computer, stumped on what blog to write next or what your proposal should consist of? Reset your environment and take a walk. In fact, a Stanford University study revealed that walking can improve one’s creative output by up to 60%, so get moving if you want to start to think creatively.
Work In Time Blocks – Pressure is often considered to be public enemy number one for the ability to think creatively and there’s nothing worse than a looming deadline to stop you from forming ideas and executing them. Instead, try to eliminate these stressors by working in time blocks that allow for breaks in your environment, such as the Pomodoro Method.
Consider Meditation – Popular psychology has taught us that in order to be creative, we must unlock the right brain, where conceptual, imaginative and innovative thoughts are forged, and avoid the left brain, known for being practical, analytical and rational. Meditation fuses those two sections into one brain and has been proven to help supercharge innovation and creativity.
Try To Get Inspired – While not all of us have the luxury of doing work that we love or are passionate about, getting inspired to think creatively can help us to change our approach to a task. For some people, collaborating with others to spark ideas does the trick, while for others, listening to particular music also unlocks enough motivation to think outside of the box.
Read More Books – Without imagination, people wouldn’t be able to come up with new inventions and new ideas that help advance society. While the temptation to flop in front of the television is often strong, try to start reading more in your downtime, as this medium forces you to use your imagination to craft a three dimensional picture in your brain.
Start Asking Questions – While we know that coming up with new ideas can be incredibly difficult, remixing existing ones is often a much easier pathway to think creatively. When approaching a creative task, start asking yourself questions linked to the ‘who, what, when, how and why’ of the topic, and if that fails, an alternative winner is often ‘if’.
While creativity is a skill in demand across many industries, some certainly rely on it far more than others, particularly marketing. Regardless of whether you’re employed in this field or are a small business owner looking to take care of this yourself, producing the required content is no easy feat.
Although original content that packs a punch is essential if you want to gain traction online, the downside is that producing quality content takes time, effort, experience and resources. While you’re not alone if you can’t quite commit to that, the good news is that there’s never been a better time to consider outsourcing to the professionals.
The Key To Good Marketing Is Great Content
Here at Content Hive, producing top quality digital content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services, and allocated credits next to each of these. This means that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as blog articles, social media posts, videos and even animated Instagram stories. By using this model, we believe that it enables us to produce high quality content with faster delivery times.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book in a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
