3 Ways To Tune Your Brain For Supercharged Creativity

Creativity is a state of mind

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”

— Edward de Bono

Everybody is creative. While many people think of writers, musicians, or painters as creatives, the truth is that every one of us is born with the inherent capacity for creative expression.

The problem is that many people lose their ability to think creatively as they grow older.

Schools teach us to follow instructions and rules instead of encouraging us to daydream and think outside the box. Hectic work schedules and our consumer culture leave little time and space to relax our minds and let creativity in.

Creativity can not be learned, but it can be accessed. It is not a skill but a state of mind. And it is accessible to every one of us.

By using the following 3 techniques, you can supercharge your creativity. You will make better decisions, find solutions for problems in business or your personal life, and increase your life satisfaction.

Meditate daily

An anxious mind is an uncreative one. When you are anxious, your ability to make decisions and find creative solutions to problems dwindles.

And what better habit could you think of to quiet your mind than meditation? A regular meditation practice helps you switch off your flight-or-fight mode, increases focus and stabilizes your mood.

Without stillness, your mind can never truly relax, and without a relaxed mind, you can not be creative. Meditation can give you that stillness.

Don’t worry if you haven’t established a regular meditation practice yet. Research by Zaidan et al. (2010) shows that 4 days of meditation training are already enough to improve creativity and cognitive flexibility.

And how long do you need to meditate each day to reap the benefits? As little as 10 to 12 minutes are already enough.

Get into flow

Flow has become a buzzword in the world of creatives, entrepreneurs, and athletes alike.

When you’re “in the flow,” you produce your best work, and you feel great while doing it. You are fully present and focused. Your sense of self vanishes.

I often experience flow when I am running alone in nature — no music, podcasts, or audiobooks distracting me. Once I have reached a specific state of exhaustion, I get high. I feel a sense of alertness and aliveness that is hard to reproduce doing any other activity.

Another example is writing. When you are writing in a flow state, your best ideas emerge. Words flow seemingly effortlessly, and you seem to be writing from your subconscious.

The bad news is that many of us spend too little time in “flow.” The good news is that we can change that because “being in the flow” is trainable.

Best-selling author and flow researcher Steven Kotler describes in his book “The Art of Impossible” 17 triggers you can use to get into the flow.

Among other things, he recommends that you set clear goals, pursue work you are passionate about, and give yourself at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted time to work.

The task also needs to challenge you. How much? Kotler says the challenge needs to be 4% greater than your current skill set.

If you are a runner, that might mean running longer or doing a more challenging hill repeat workout than before. For a writer, that might mean a more extended writing session, a higher target word count, or simply writing about a slightly more challenging topic.

The benefit of working in a flow state?

How about increasing your creative output by 400%-700%?

And even better: these creativity-enhancing benefits last for 1 to 2 days after you have reached the flow state.

In other words, you train your brain to think creatively long-term when you make an effort to get into a flow state more often.

Use boredom to your advantage

If you want to invite creativity in, you need to allow yourself to become bored. Daydream and let your mind wander.

When you are constantly busying yourself with work, scrolling through social media, or playing Candy Crush, you don’t allow your mind to process all this information.

Too much mental stimulation increases your chance of mental fatigue, anxiety, and burnout. Your creative output tanks.

Studies confirm what creatives have known for centuries: boredom is a requisite for creative problem solving, innovation, and advancements in science, society, and arts.

For example, the researchers Mann and Cadman showed that creative output is higher in people who performed a tedious task before a creative one.

The researchers asked one group of study participants to copy numbers from a phone book and solve a creative challenge afterward. Another group solved the creativity challenge without completing a boring task beforehand.

“Results suggested that boring activities resulted in increased creativity and that boring reading activities lead to more creativity in some circumstances […]”, the authors conclude.

So do yourself and your creativity a favor and make a conscious attempt to let yourself get bored more often.

Stand in the grocery line without checking your phone. Commute to work without reading or listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Or simply take a walk along a well-known route, sit by a lake, and stare into the water.

Bore yourself to creative insights.

Unleash your creativity

A well-lived life is a creative one. It doesn’t matter if you are an athlete, a writer, musician, homemaker, baker, or entrepreneur.

Creative thinking can make all aspects of your life easier.

From solving relationship problems to planning your kid’s birthday to making your business more customer-focused. Whatever you want to achieve in life, you will succeed faster and with less effort if you can tap into the power of creative thinking.

Daily meditation, achieving flow states, and letting yourself become bored are 3 techniques you can use to harness that power.

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