Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

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How Yellow Paper and Zumba can Boost your Creativity

January 8th, 2011 by Jane

Want to be more creative? Then writing on warm coloured paper, hitting the gym and a view of nature may be your answer. These are just a few of the suggestions made by Dr Amantha Imber in her book “The Creativity Formula”.

With a solid understanding of the latest empirical research, Dr Imber provides a range of practical and simple solutions to get your creative juices flowing.

Whilst this book is written for a corporate/professional audience, I still found the advice relevant for high school and university students. In a nutshell, the strategies that appear to make us think more creatively also help us to work more effectively, be less stressed and have more fun!

Below are five ways to boost your creativity that are mentioned in Dr Imber’s book. I felt that these strategies were the most relevant to students.

1. Surround yourself with warm colours

Have you ever noticed that a lot of fast food chain logos and stores such as Hungry Jacks (aka Burger King), KFC, Red Rooster and McDonalds are all similar colours – either red, orange and yellow or a combination of these colours? This didn’t just happen by coincidence. There is psychological research behind it!

Research tells us that warm colours (e.g. red, yellow and orange) not only tend to stimulate our appetite but they make us feel happier too.

So what does this have to with creativity? Well, studies also tell us that when we feel happier we tend to have more creative ideas.

Dr Imber encourages readers to decorate their offices with warmly coloured posters and items. She also suggest we use yellow writing paper pads to scribble down ideas. With this in mind, I stuck up a poster of Saraswati (Hindu Goddess of knowledge and arts) that I picked up for $2 and covered my laptop stand with a bright scarf.

2. Have a view of nature or get an indoor plant

What would you prefer to look at – a brick wall or some trees? It may seem like a no brainer, but scientists have actually tested the effects of looking at these different sceneries. What they found is that people who were exposed to nature tended to have improved self esteem, better moods and experienced less stressed than others.

How does this relate to creativity? The obvious reason is that nature provides us with stress relief which allows us to think more clearly, be more focused and creative.

3. Create an original, quirky workspace

I’ve worked at a number of organisations where minimalist offices seemed to be all the rage. Quite frankly, they were boring and uninspiring places to work.

According to Dr Imber having a diverse range of objects and textures in your work environment can stimulate creative thought. She states -

“One of the best ways to provoke creative thought is to surround the brain with lots of diverse stimuli. This increases the number of connections sparked in the brain, and therefore the number of new ideas popping up. An office that has the bare minimum of furniture and accessories will not provide much stimulus to drive creative thought”

So don’t hold back. Dr Imber tells us to surround ourselves with artwork, posters, and Elvis figurines! She even goes as far as telling us to create a toy box for our office. Whilst I’m not a fan of clutter, I can certainly appreciate that a personalised, fun office would help one to think in new and different ways.

4. Move it

People who engage in just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise experience enhanced creativity and mental alertness. So before you start a mentally taxing task, go for a run or do a zumba or spin class. It doesn’t matter what you do, just as long as you work up a sweat.

I’ve started going to the gym first thing in the morning (6am) and noticed that it makes a huge difference not only to my energy levels but also in terms of my ability to focus and concentrate throughout the day.


5. Carry a notepad and pen with you at all times

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea or the answer to a problem? Dr Imber states that we tend to have our most creative thoughts in the following places and situations – in bed, in the bath, on the toilet, on public transport and driving the car.

Unfortunately, when you wake up at 2am with a great idea in a semi sleep deprived state and there is no pen and paper in sight, it’s highly likely that you’re not going to write it down and the idea will be gone come the morning.

What often differentiates “creative” people from others is that they tend to capture a lot of their ideas whilst others simply forget them. Last year my friend and fellow PhD student, Dean Lasslet, gave me the idea to carry a pen and paper with me at all times to capture my ideas. This was a brilliant idea and I made significant progress with formulating my PhD project by doing this.

If a notebook and pen doesn’t work for you perhaps you may want to invest in a dictaphone/tape recorder. If you capture hundreds of brilliant ideas that would otherwise be forgotten, I’d say it’s money well spent.

References

Blanchette, D.M., Ramocki, S.P., O’Del, J.N., & Casey, M.S. (2005). Aerobic exercise and creative potential: Immediate and residual effects. Creativity Research Journal, 17, 257-264.

Imber, A. (2009). The Creativity Formula. Liminal Press: Victoria, Australia.

McCoy, J.M., & Evans, G.W. (2002). The potential role of the physical environment in fostering creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 14, 409-426.

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5 strategies to help you write an assignment, thesis or book

August 1st, 2010 by Jane

The thought of starting any new writing task (whether it be a blog post, an assignment or a book) can be a daunting one.

With only ideas in your head and nothing on paper or typed up on your computer, the sight of a blank sheet of paper or empty word document can be paralysing for many of us.

“Where do I start?” you may ask in an overwhelmed state. You may think to yourself “Ahh, stuff it. Let’s just see what’s happening on Facebook”, “I might just check my email” or “I’ll feel like writing tomorrow, it will be easier tomorrow…hey, I’ll start tomorrow!”

Ever had an experience like this before?

I took part in a fantastic course recently called “Turbocharging your writing” run by Hugh Kearns from ithinkwell.com. Although the course was created for university academics and PhD students, the writing techniques are useful for all students (in High school, TAFE or university) and any working professional who needs to write as part of their job.

Below is a list of a several strategies Hugh shared to help you get into the groove of writing.

1. Write even when you don’t feel like writing

Let’s be honest with ourselves, many of us are waiting for the right moment to start writing. Perhaps we think we will be ready after we finish reading a certain article or maybe we think one day we will wake up and feel inspired to write!

Unfortunately, the movie portrayal of the inspired, passionate writer who locks themselves away for days on end in a cabin to write the perfect bestselling novel has led many of us to believe that one must feel in the right mood to write.

The reality is you may never feel ready or inspired to write. So what should you do? Hugh Kearns suggests – start writing anyway.

If we start writing (even if we don’t feel like it) we may find that after 30 minutes or so, as we start to make progress, that we suddenly feel slightly inspired. This in turn makes us want to keep writing.

2. Make writing a daily habit – Two golden hours worth

If you look at the lives of great writers like Stephen King and Bryce Courtney, what you’ll notice is that these people write daily. It’s an ingrained habit.

Woody Allen famously said -

“90% of success is just showing up”.

Apparently, the same philosophy applies to writing – 90% of success at writing is just turning up to write!

In the “Turbocharging your writing” seminar, the facilitator talked about the idea of “assuming the position” to write. By this, he meant sitting down either at your computer or with a pen/pencil in your hand, ready to write. That’s the first step to getting any writing done – you’re just turning up to start the writing process (and my sense is that often this can be the hardest part).

Hugh then talked about the idea of nailing your feet to the floor to force yourself to write for “Two Golden hours”. He then warned us that during the first 45 minutes of this process, most people experience some level of anxiety and discomfort. It’s common to have thoughts such as “I can’t write this”, “I rather be doing something else” or “This is really hard…”.

This is completely normal but often what happens is people think that something is wrong when they experience this anxiety. They think that because they’re finding it hard to write, perhaps they should stop and often that’s exactly what they do. Big mistake. “If you just hang in there, the anxiety will eventually disappear” said Hugh Kearns.

3. Writing is not a linear process

It’s a myth to think you need to start at the very beginning of your piece of writing and perfect the first sentence before you go on to write the rest.

Forget the first sentence. That will come in time. I recommend putting all your ideas down on paper and work with that to begin with.

If you need to have some kind of structure in place before you begin the writing process, try jotting down your ideas on a mind map or writing each idea on post it notes so you can shuffle them around to create a structure. Once you’ve done this, don’t think you need to start writing your introduction or the first paragraph of your essay. Start with the idea you feel most comfortable with and go from there.


4. Use writing as a form of thinking

If you’re feeling stuck, write about what you are feeling stuck about. Set your alarm for 5 or 10 minutes time and whatever comes to mind, put it down on paper.

The key is to keep your hand moving. Don’t stop writing until the alarm goes off.

Try this out and I bet you’ll be surprised with what kind of insights and creative solutions you come up with.

5. Write when you are most alert

If you are trying to make writing a daily habit, then you want to foster positive experiences writing. A few weeks ago, I tried writing at 9pm on a Friday night when I felt exhausted. How do you think I went? It was a horrible experience which ended in tears. Consequently, I didn’t pick up a pen to write for days.

The fact of the matter is writing is a complicated and mentally exhausting task. For this reason, it doesn’t make sense to do write when you’re tired. Write when you feel most alert and have the energy to do so.

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