Monday 2 November 2020

Fun Exercises to Quickly Improve Creative Thinking

This post was written by Ashley Lipman.

Creative thinking is a very important skill to have. It lets you handle unique challenges, whether that be personally, at school, or even at the office. Without this skill, unexpected problems without a precisely laid-out solution can be challenging for people to deal with. Most of us build up our creative thinking skills throughout life thanks to school and being faced with problems to overcome over the years.

Unfortunately, this is a skill that not everyone possesses or that people wish they were better at. Without being able to think creatively, your work could suffer and you could find yourself being stuck on problems or roadblocks indefinitely.

Thankfully, there are a variety of different things you can do to actually build up this skill and improve your creative thinking. This blog post is going to go over a few that are not only helpful for improving the skill but can also be fun.

Play Board Games

While many play them for fun and fun alone, board games can also be great for the creative thinking of everyone from children to adults. These games can force you to make tough decisions, as well as come up with creative ways to win. For example, in Ticket to Ride, you can win by completing routes, building long trains, or simply sabotaging the routes of other players to keep them from racking up points.

There are countless different examples of games that allow you to play in a variety of different ways, which is great for boosting your creative thinking. In addition to traditional board games, there are also tabletop RPG games like Dungeons and Dragons or Call of Cthulhu. These games offer endless ways to be creative, from character design, to how you overcome obstacles and so many others.

Of course, make sure you have all the gear you need to play such as dice, game mats, and others. Be sure to check out some D20 Collective deals and other online sites to get everything you need.

Write 

One of the best ways to have more ideas and become a more creative thinker is to write. It doesn’t matter what you write about, simply take some time with just a notebook and a pen or pencil. Write honestly, from the heart and don’t worry about planning out ahead what you want to write about.

You could write a journal about your daily life, create a short story, or even just allow yourself a bit of time to write on anything that pops into your head. This could be potential business ideas, strategies for games, plans for the future and a range of other things. You could also tell yourself to write for a certain amount of time. This forces your creativity to run wild, and can certainly make you more skillful at thinking creatively on the fly. 

It can also be very therapeutic, while also being very fun at the same time. You can also refer back to your journal in the future and see how your creativity or writing has improved over time.

Take a Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

One of the classic tried and true exercises and methods for improving your creative thinking is stepping out of your comfort zone. Residing constantly in your comfort zone doesn’t challenge you. As a result, your ability to think creatively can be hindered. When it comes to stepping out of your comfort zone, there are a variety of things you can do.

You can learn and work on a new skill or research something in an area you are unfamiliar with. You can even just go do something that makes you a little uncomfortable and forces you to think on your feet a little more. Sure, it can be challenging, but that is part of the fun and it will certainly expand your horizons.

Taking a class or course on something you find fascinating, but new, is also a good option. Finding new and interesting classes online is easy and there are several incredible things out there you can learn quicker than you might think. Once out of your comfort zone, you will often be thinking more, which is great for creativity.

Any of the aforementioned exercises should be able to help you improve your creative thinking skills. There are several other great exercises as well, so don’t limit yourself and be sure to try out a few and see what works the best for you.

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