Hello again, I didn’t get through all the techniques for enhancing creativity in my last article, How To Enhance Creativity: Why Lady Gaga Works & Brainstorming Doesn’t, so we’re picking up from where we left off and running with it!
Our unconscious mind is a vast resource of infinite wisdom and creative insight. In part one, I referred to some experiences of how my creativity was able to produce all kinds of useful and unique insights and information to help me with business decisions and choices related to my personal life. The trick is finding ways to tap into this resource.
Tapping Into The Unconscious
There’s a really cool story told by Dr. Richard Wiseman, which is a great analogy for how our unconscious mind works and how to tap into it. It’s called listening to the quiet girl in the room.
Imagine you go into a room, there are two people in the room. One is very vivacious, chatty and loud, the other is very quiet and reserved. You ask these two characters for help with solving some problem, and the loud girl immediately bursts forth with a torrent of ideas and information, it may not be very useful, unique or interesting. The quiet girl on the other hand, doesn’t say anything, because she doesn’t get a chance to with her noisy counterpart monopolizing the spot light.
Dr. Wiseman says this is really how our conscious and unconscious mind operates. Our conscious mind is the noisy one; never shuts up, always prattling on with an endless run of thoughts and ideas, it may not be very useful, relevant or interesting. Our unconscious mind on the other hand, can have some extremely useful and unique insights to share, but we rarely hear from it over the chatter of our conscious mind. So how do we deal with this?
In my experience, doing various kinds of meditation has helped me immensely with quietening my overly busy mind. Moving meditation, like yoga, works well if you’re not someone who can sit still for long. If sitting still doesn’t drive you crazy then there are numerous types of still meditations available. I practiced Vipassana meditation for a number of years and I’ve never had such clarity of mind and creative insight as when I kept up this discipline. I’ve fallen off the wagon however and am well overdue for another stint of training! Dr. Wiseman cites another way to access our unconscious, and we’ll go back to the story to find out how.
So, this time when you go back into the room, you head the noisy girl off at the pass by asking her to do some kind of time consuming task which keeps her distracted. Then when she’s occupied, you ask the quiet girl again for help with your problem. Now that there is space for her to share her insights, she can tell you numerous innovative and unusual solutions to your problem.
This leads us to some other great ways to get your conscious mind out of the way to let your unconscious work on innovative problem solving.
How Puzzles Help Creative Thinking
Ap Dijksterhuis, a psychologist from University of Amsterdam conducted a series of experiments to test this theory. He would pose a problem or ask a question of the participants in the study. Then he would have them distract their conscious mind for a few (3) minutes with something else (you could use a crossword, a computer game, a word finder puzzle, anything that requires your undivided attention for a few minutes.) The study found that when people engaged their conscious mind and allowed their unconscious to work on the problem, they came up with almost twice as many creative and innovative ideas and solutions compared to when the conscious mind was involved. Pretty cool huh?
I don’t find this is one of my favorite techniques for getting in touch with my subconscious, but it’s definitely a very quick and effective technique to get in touch with your hidden wisdom and insights.
Prime-Time Again
In the last article I mentioned awakening creativity through mental priming in relation to thinking of Lady Gaga, there is also another kind of mental priming mind available. When we work intensely on a problem for a while, we mentally prime our minds to immerse ourselves completely in the problem. Then we need to do something completely different. This could be going to a museum, an art gallery, watching a film or looking through magazines or books that are not related to the topic we’re working on. The idea is to allow our mind to perceive things from a different perspective and come up with new and innovative ideas and concepts as a result.
Changing our perspective in other ways enhances creativity as well. Using our imagination is key here. We can use our imagination to think about how a child or a friend or an artist or accountant might approach the problem we’re struggling with. Consciously activating our curiosity also helps awaken our creativity. Children are extremely curious, and they are also extremely creative. Curiosity is a key link to creativity as it drives us to question things and entertain novel ideas in relation to a problem.
I’ve discussed the benefits of play at length in other articles as a way to connect with our creativity. If we take 15 minutes break from the task we’re working on to play, it can re-energize us and bring fresh perspective to the problem. Dr. Wiseman has a few funny examples of play he recommends to help lighten things up. He says to try finding ways to put the words “cheese” & “pie” into our next meeting or telephone call. Maybe if you leave a comment at the end of this post, see if you can find a way to make these words fit into what you’re going to say.
How Stress Shuts Down Creativity
Stress shuts down our creativity and innovation very quickly. When we feel worried, we become very focused and concentrated on trying to figure whatever it is we think will help us avoid any further pain or punishment from the stress related issue. This creates a type of risk-averse behavior in which we rely on established habits and routines and tend to see the world through tunnel vision.
The result is that we default more to linear, sequential thinking patterns as opposed to multidimensional, holistic thinking, which is the essence of creative thinking. In previous articles, I mentioned how exercise and spending time in quiet, natural settings is great for stress reduction. You may already have your own effective stress reduction techniques, it’s worth remembering that these are vital to enhancing your creativity and innovation, not to mention improving our overall health, well being and work performance.
A Quick Trick To Relax And Enhance Creativity
Psychologists Ronald Freidman and Jens Forster discovered a quick technique to make people feel relaxed, and enhances creativity. Apparently, when we like something we pull it towards us, and when we dislike it, we instinctively push it away from us. This act of pulling towards us is associated with positive feeling and relaxation, and the act of pushing away is associated with negative feeling and tension.
Freidman and Forster found that by having participants place one hand under the table and pull it up towards them, they scored higher for creativity and innovation as it created that feeling of positivity and relaxation. They didn’t need to lift the table off the ground or anything, just place some upward pressure on the underside of the table as though pulling it towards them. Participants who placed their hands on the table-top and pushed down scored lower due to the feeling of tension and negativity. So we can always give this technique a try when we’re working at our desk and need to do some speedy relaxation and creative thinking.
Why Lying Down On The Job Should Be Mandatory For Creative Thinking
This brings us to our final technique for enhancing creativity, and it’s one of my favorites. It’s called lying down on the job! Ha-ha! Can you believe there is scientific proof that lying down on the job is actually beneficial to innovation and creative thinking? Please God, someone post this up on their workplace notice board!
Darren Lipnicki and Don Byrne from Australian National University tested people’s creative problem solving both standing up or lying down. They found that participants solved problems 10% faster when lying down. The reason for this is not completely understood, but it’s possible that lying down decreases activity in a part of the brain called the locus coeruleus, and this appears to improve creative thinking. So next time the pressure is on to be innovative at work, just take five to lie down on the job and see what happens!
The studies in this post come from a fabulous book, 59 Seconds, by Professor Richard Wiseman. It’s a brilliant book and I highly recommend it. Once again, please leave any comments you have in regard to the ideas in this post – I challenge you to include the words “cheese” and “pie” in it! Thanks for reading, and here’s to your creative success.
Neroli Makim
Think outside the box when your looking to do something amazing..and if laying down gets you to where you want to be..then so be it..
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Thanks BSG. Maybe lying down the job is good for business after all:) Cheers, neroli
I enjoyed even more this part than the first one.
Thanks for sharing that.
I agree with you, Neroli was writing more deeper. especially when she pointed to “How Stress Shuts Down Creativity” And we must find the way to get rid of stress and she give a solution.
Thanks Semmy, nice to see you here again, cheers, neroli
thanks for checking out the article MMB, glad the follow up was even better than the first one
Cheers, neroli
I always love posts like this, Neroli, so a definite thumbs up from me. I also appreciate the exercises for people like me who aren’t so adept at sitting still and meditating. Well, I’m off to pull on a table and do a crossword puzzle…now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d type.
now that is funny
Ha-ha Daniel! How did the table pulling go? Perhaps my aim in life has just changed to seeing how many random things I can get people to do in the name of creativity:) Oh…no…..that would be the end of my credibility wouldn’t it? Oh bugger, back to world domination instead then:) Cheers, neroli
hi Neroli,
i get great ideas in the bath and shower room,,conscious mind off,,water is life energy, and there are no cheese pies to distract me like in the kitchen or work space.heehee:)
Woohoo Kara!!! Challenge has been accepted & overcome; cheese & pie snuck into a comment with great verbal dexterity:) YAY!
I agree on the shower/bath thing, it’s a great place to get ideas. You know Jack Canfield, author of the “Chicken Soup For the Soul” books/series? He came up with that idea in the shower…Quick disclaimer; I didn’t come across this information via having anything to do with Jack Canfield’s showering habits…:)
Cheers, neroli
Great work Neroli, I really like your approach to working. For those of us who blog or work online for a living, one can find that it’s not a very creative process (despite the creativity that’s needed). These exercises and tips are great for changing that.
I’ve actually started going climbing again in order to have an intense period of immersion in something physical. If I try to think of work, I could lose my footing, so I have to ask my unconscious the question I need answering and then go climbing while it works on it. That way my brain gets a bigger portion of the creative pie to feast upon.
I love the ‘pulling the desk towards you’ exercise too, makes perfect sense.
Richard Wiseman is a bit of a hero of mine and I actually got to interview him a couple of years back for another of my blogs so your post caught my eye immediately.
So many ‘relaxation at work’ exercises are incomplete and practically, have more holes in them than a Swiss cheese. Thanks for sharing your complete practical insights.
Matt
OMG Matt!!!! Another successful taker-of-the-cheese/pie-challenge!!!! I can’t believe I’ve never thought of throwing something like this in my posts before, I’m getting ridiculous amounts of fun from it:) Very well done with that clever word wrangling.
Re rock climbing, that’s one activity I’ve so far been too sooky to take on as it requires such extreme physical strength, flexibility and stamina, not to mention the mental & psychological strength & focus. Big thumbs up for doing it. I can’t imagine a more effective way to silence the conscious mind than put in it in a situation where if it makes a peep, you could fall of a rock face…that’s serious zen-ninja mind silencing tactics!
I’ll have to go check out your interview with Dr. Wiseman, his work is amazing, interviewing him would be fascinating!
Cheers, neroli.
Hey Neroli, glad you appreciated my cheese/pie silliness.
You can find the Richard Wiseman interview here: http://www.smokeandmirrorsradioshow.com/2009/06/the-magicast-episode-six/
Thanks for the props on the climbing too. I went yesterday and although it helped me get out of my own head (which can be a stressful place!), my arms and legs are really feeling it today!
Keep up the great work.
Matt
Great article! I have been working on myself through deep meditation for some time. I have moved through some trying times with clarity of thought. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment Gaven:) If you’re the kind of person who can do deep stillness meditation, i think the benefits are endless and unbelievable to those who’ve never been there. Well done;)
Cheers, neroli
i agree that we have to set out time during the day to quiet the mind so consciousness can speak to us. That is where real creativity and awesome ideas come from. Meditation is so crucial during the current stressful times that we are experiencing.
Thanks Justin, it sure does work wonders for stress reduction..which in turn improves our creativity & innovation. Imagine if mediation was a regular practise in schools and workplaces?
cheers,
neroli
Very nice insight , got to try this out i will be looking at purchasing this book from Professor Richard Wiseman, looks very interesting
Hey Michael, it’s worth every penny! His book covers SOOOO much other cool stuff too, the creativity part of it is only one little slice:)
cheers, neroli
Thanks for the great continutation article, Neroli.
I hope that there’s a part 3 as well.
I will definitely try the lying down trick.
Normally I do sitting down in a beach chair when I try to arouse my creativity to a higher level.
Hey Allen…I’ll keep you posted on article 3 re enhancing creativity techniques! I don’t think it will follow this one as I have another tangent (equally interesting) I’m heading off on. I am putting together a workshop with another woman later in the year however, and I’ll absolutely learn some new mind bending techniques from her.
You know what’s interesting about the beach chair scenario? I know a guy who used to work for General Motors in the ’80′s. The engineers who were relied on to come up with all the new innovations for the business were among the highest paid employees. They were given a whole floor of a building with huge windows & magnificent views looking out onto the ocean. They were paid big money to sit and stare out at the ocean all day to be in as relaxed a state as possible, so they could come up with the creative and innovative ideas. Amazing huh?
Cheers, neroli
Wow! Definitely amazing.
Getting paid to stare at the beach, and relax the whole day while thinking of ideas. That’s not a bad job to have.
But I’m sure it must help a lot.
In my case, all I can do is imagine. LOL.
Neroli, I would just like to thank you for this fascinating post. As someone who is now (in retirement) trying to earn my living from my own creativity and resourcefulness online, by writing articles and building websites, I shall definitely a) be seeking out a copy of 59 seconds and b) listening closely to the “quiet girl in the room” from now on.
Sounds great Alison, 59 seconds is a fascinating book, so worth having somewhere nearby for all manner of insights & assistance:) Good luck keeping that noisy girl occupied,
cheers,neroli
Thanks for sharing these amazing tips, Neroli. The pull something towards and lying down the job are completely new to me.
. Thanks a lot for sharing. The article was a pleasure to read.
I think taking sometime to cultivate our creativity is extremely powerful and fun at the same time.
Here are some of my own creativity-stimulating activities that I hope everyone will find useful:
- I do a lot of nature walks which is an excellent and well known creativity booster
- I try to do things differently all the time: take different routes to the same place, dress differently and so forth…
- Humor is a great creativity booster. I enjoy watching well written sit coms because the way the “play with words” inspires me to write better.
- When I face a problem or decide to write on a certain topic, I don’t rush into solving or writing it immediately (unless immediate solution is necessary). Instead, I let it “sink in” for a day or two. During that time, I come up with the most creative solutions you could imagine.
- I love solving brain teasers and creative thinking problems regularly.
That’s it: now I will add lying down the job thanks to you
Hi Garious, thanks for sharing all those tips;)
In my previous article, I rambled on about walking, especially in nature…in fact, I ramble on about plants/nature a lot as far as being beneficial to our lives in myriad forms! We must share a lot in common, I’ve also written an article on humor in relation to creativity…you’re really on the money with that one!
And thanks for sharing it with Innovators Mix too – we’re going to hook up to chat some more about this fascinating stuff:)
I often wish I could lie down on the job more than is humanly possible…I guess it’s just my subconscious telling me that it has something to say & I won’t get it by staying in the head spin I’m in.
Great comment, cheers, neroli
I appreciate all the creative thinking tips. There’s a great creative thinking training talk by John Cleese that I highly recommend on the Video Arts site that I believe is free as a streaming video.
Thanks, I love John Cleese:) I’ll go check it out! Cheers, neroli
Hi Neroli, Thanks for taking the time to inspire others. I have only been blogging a short while and have realized already that it’s not for the faint hearted. I shall keep a link to your blog and drop in from time to time for some more of your tips. Again thanks so much for your encouragement.
Hey Allen! You’re totally right about it not being for the faint hearted, but it’s worth it in the end:) Thanks for your comment, my next article is all about inspiration, so it if you need a hit, you might find it in there.
I’ve just submitted it, it’s all about blogging, creativity & leadership, it’s also about finding your own truth…big stuff for one little article. I really hope you read it, because it’s also meant to inspire us to keep going with our blogging:)
take care & don’t give up! neroli
I enjoyed your blog post. I think we’re on the same wave length. I talk about the difference between the conscious and unconscious mind on my blog as well. My blog is dedicated to Dr. Milton Erickson’s work and his principles.
I have written some, what I call ericksonian fables, on my blog that you might like. Feel free to check out my website at http://www.changeforhealth.com. I haven’t heard of Dr. Richard Wiseman. I will check him out on amazon.
And also I like the work of Edward deBono you might have heard of him. He’s very big on creativity using lateral thinking. I have already bookmark your website.
Thanks,
Eugene
hey Eugene, I’ll absolutely check out your site. I love stories and fables:) Definitely recommend Dr.Wiseman’s work, his stuff on creativity is only scratching the surface of all the cool stuff he goes into!
I know of Edward de Bono’s work, he’s a real heavy weight in the creativity game. I’ve even got a book of his on my bookshelf somewhere. Only thing is, I could never get into his style of writing, it never jumped off the page & grabbed my attn, or held it for that matter. I might be due for a re-read and see how i go:)
cheers, neroli
Your Message
Very informative, if I’m struggling I go for a swim on my own, no kids! This must have the same effect as the shower…
Great Read
Karen
Thanks Karen:) I’d love a swim right now! I don’t want to drive the hour to the beach tho…maybe tomorrow I’ll be up for it. Cheers:) neroli
Great tips Neroli! I love puzzles. I hope it helps enhance my creativity more when stress is so much getting into me. I try to tell myself to relax but when the work is there and you see the list of things to do. You just can’t help it.
hey GB, yeah, it’s a bugger like that. Stress will certainly be our downfall if we’re not careful at managing it. Hope you keep on top of it.
U know what’s crazy? I don’t even LIKE computers! I never wanted to sit in front of one from 6:30 am until 9 or 10 at night! I love being outside, especially in gardens:) But l guess we make choices for a good reason. It seems I love what I’m doing creatively so much, it’s even over-ridden my great dislike for sitting in a room in front of a glaring box for hours on end:)
Cheers, neroli.
Hi Neroli,
Great post again. I think as you may remember in my earlier comments, finding ways to put the subconscious mind to work is one of my favorite topics. I always try to find some time to meditate. It can definitely help quieten your conscious mind’s chatterbox quite a bit. The effect of stress on creativity is quite real and it’s sad that we are getting more and more driven towards a singular task in society due to increasing work loads and competition.
Hey Komodo, long time no speak:)
How’s it going? How much meditation do you do in a day? I’ve been thinking seriously of returning for a 10 day intensive at the meditation centre I used to go to. It’s a bit of a meditation bootcamp, starting with 4:30 am sits and finishing around 9 at night…but it gets results;) & it’s worth more than most things in life.
I love the subconscious, it’s like swimming in a black sea of infinite possibility, kind of scary but full of unfathomable potential. Yeah, I think going back to brush up on meditation skills is needed, I don’t swim in that sea anywhere near enough these days;) Thanks for dropping in & commenting.
Cheers, neroli
That is a great way to put it about the conscious and unconscious. I am also slightly ADD so it helps me with the creativity part. I have recently been working with meditation and am eager to try a few of your thoughts out.
Thanks Neroli!
Great inspiration and reminders of what could probably just be called common sense! Seems there’s lots of the little loud kid inside going on, and it takes articles like yours to give us a friendly nudge in the ribs.
My little quiet boy inside is smiling happily. And I think the little loud one has heard you too…
Hi Neroli,
Interesting blog you have written about the subconsious mind . I think this can help the police and investigating team too ,if it is introduced in finding the real criminals in a murder case or terrorism cases if i am not wrong.
thanks god bless
Thanks once again for your deep insights, but i’d like to ask if there are any other meditations other than yoga. Dont really understand how the unconscious mind activates when we put the conscious mind to work tho. Nevertheless, going to try the mentioned techniques.