Creativity, the ability to solve problems in a non-standard way, is extremely useful in the world that is changing before our eyes. Sometimes, however, even if you have the best intentions, you are not able to come up with more fresh and interesting ideas. There can be many reasons for this. But the most important thing is to overcome this weakness. So how can you boost your creativity?

Ways to boost your creativity

You should ask yourself what limits your creativity. Is it external factors (e.g. negative comments from other people) or internal factors (e.g. your own belief)? If you think it’s a matter of the external environment, you can change your job. But if you don’t believe yourself to be creative, you won’t unlock your creativity even under the most favorable circumstances. In that case, you should work on your self-esteem with a personal development coach. Also consider participating in creative-thinking workshops, which can have a positive impact on your private and professional life.

How can you rediscover your unlimited creative potential? Many people do well to simply take a break from their daily duties. Moments of rest and tranquility make your creativity awaken again. Meditation is also a good way to clear your mind. Research confirms that through meditation you strengthen your nervous system, improve your creativity and regain your composure. Other people like logical challenges, such as chess or crosswords. Still others stimulate creativity by giving themselves a dose of positive emotions. Physical exercise, which improves the oxygenation of the whole body, including the brain, is also of great importance.

Supporting creative thinking

You need exercises that activate different areas of your brain and different types of intelligence. You should also use special techniques to support creative thinking. The most popular ones include brainstorming, the Ishikawa diagram and Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats.

In brainstorming, participants are encouraged to come up with all their ideas for solving a particular problem, even those that seem absurd. Brainstorming allows you to gather as many ideas as possible in a short time.

The Ishikawa diagram, also called fishbone diagram, herringbone diagram, cause-and-effect diagram or Fishikawa, helps to separate cause from effect and take into account the complexity of the problem at hand. Problem analysis begins with defining the effect (e.g. failure) and leads to identifying all its possible causes.

Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats is a technique for looking at a given problem from six different perspectives. Different-colored hats represent different ways of viewing a situation, e.g. a white hat stands for facts, a red one for emotions, a yellow one for positive outcomes, and a black hat for negative outcomes.

There are also other techniques, perhaps less known but equally effective, including the lotus blossom technique and the 635 method. They can be used both in individual and team work.