Creative thinking can be developed in different ways, because it allows you to bring in new ideas and alternatives beyond what you might expect. So, if you want to encourage your creativity, you need to bring elements such as flexibility, innovation and originality into your life, because with well-developed creative thinking you will be able to come up with new concepts. At first it will be hard work, but over time you will do it without thinking.
To be creative, you do not need a prodigious mind, although there are also people who are born with this skill already developed. But you can be creative in your day-to-day life too. In fact, you almost always are, in everyday actions; you just are not aware of it. For example, you are being creative when you choose what to wear each day and combine your clothes in different ways, when you write a text (an email, a letter), when you cook or when you solve the problems and unexpected situations that come up at any moment. In this sense, lateral thinking plays a big part: it is about finding different solutions or points of view for the same problem.
Change your perspective on a situation and you will be more creative. Need some practice? Let us look at a few things that can help you to develop creative thinking.
How to develop creativity in daily life
For the mind to reach its full potential, it needs to be clear. So, to develop your creativity it is very important to have healthy lifestyle habits, such as sleeping well or making time to relax. And then to do what I explain below:
- The 5 whys. This method consists of stating the problem you want to fix as an affirmative statement. Then ask why. When you have answered, ask again. Keep going up to five times, because the idea is that by the time you reach the root of the problem, you will have different ways of solving it.
- Mind maps. This involves representing the main idea and all the others graphically or in text. You put the main idea in the centre and the others around it. Then link all the ideas together to create connections between them.
- Brainstorming. Write down everything that comes to mind, without thinking. What matters here is quantity, not quality. Then gradually select and discard the different options.
- The SCAMPER method. On the one hand, this method consists of substituting, combining and adapting the different ideas. You swap some for others, give shape to the ones you already have, or you can also mix them all together. On the other hand, you can also put materials and concepts to other uses, eliminate them or rearrange them.
As you can see, it is very easy to be creative in your everyday life, and you can be creative with the simplest things. The main idea is to recognise that everything can be modified, that everything can be changed and adapted at any time. Creativity is like dough: depending on the hands that work it, one result or another will come out, and they will all be fine. You just have to work, think, and change the perspectives and points of view that will help you to achieve your goals.
