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Scientifically proven techniques to boost your creativity
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Scientifically proven techniques to boost your creativity

on 27 November 2020

​The notion that creative geniuses are born and not made is a myth.  Research suggests that only 30 percent of creativity is genetically predetermined. This means that the remaining 70 percent is attributed to creativity as a skill that can be easily built up subject to how determined a person is to get there.

How can boost your creative performance? Here are some tips you might find useful.

Think outside the box

An “I always did it that way” mentality will not allow you to achieve anything new. Being flexible and willing to try new things will give you better chances to find creative ways that you can use to do a better job. Be brave enough to do things differently and be ready to make mistakes. After all, the greatest discoveries have been made by accident.

Have the right amount of distraction

While being distracted with your mobile phone, checking your WhatsApp and Messenger is a no go, research has shown that some level of noise distraction is required for an optimal environment. Although silence is great, a high level of noise, say busy café or city street is ideal to cover up lower noise levels that can be of greater distraction, such as someone chatting next door or a colleague quietly humming a tune. Therefore research concludes that some noise distraction is important for creativity.

Exercise

We continuously hear about how exercise can improve the quality of our lifestyles. It has been found that it can also improve our creative thinking. Participating in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise can help us get a creative boost that can last for up to two hours post-exercise.

Clench Your Left Hand

An experiment was conducted by psychologists where one group of people had to squeeze a ball with their left hand while the other group had to squeeze a ball with their right. It was found that this simple act of squeezing one’s left hand activated a brain circuit associated with thinking holistically and intuitively, and thus more creatively. So, the next time you have a creative problem to solve, squeeze your left hand into a fist for optimum results!

Sleep on It

Ultimately, the success of creative thought rests on making good decisions. Research suggests that we make far better decisions in the morning, when we are well rested and fresh. Our cognitive resources deteriorate throughout the day with each task we handle. So the earlier in the day you make decisions, the better those decisions will be.

Whether you see yourself as a highly creative thinker or someone who doesn’t have a creative bone in your body, try incorporating some of these simple changes into your life to turbocharge your creative thought.

VacancyCentre is available to assist any person actively looking for their next career move.

Feel free to contact us on [email protected] for further information and guidance.

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