Using Change to Promote Creative Thinking

Change can be considered an asset that helps promote creative thinking. Life as it is has each of us routinely existing in environments that lack the necessary stimulus to tap into our own creative resources. Consider a picture hanging on the wall in your home. The longer it is there the less it gets notice. After a while it no longer presents the noticeable change it once did for you and therefore ceases to exist. The same is true for your own thinking process and the creative intelligence contained within. If it is not properly stimulated it will remain dormant. The best way to awaken it is to stimulate it with something new or different. Here are 3 reasons changing your environment will help to stimulate your thinking process and awaken the dormant creative resources within. Work Station Stagnates Your Thinking Let's face it your work station is a deliberately contained environment designed to minimize distractions. This also greatly reduces any stimuli that can lead to new ideas. Ironically by minimizing distractions for the purpose of increasing your productivity this type work environment actually 'limits' your mind from utilizing its own creative intelligence. If the mind is expected to create new ideas it must be exposed to new things otherwise it will likely remain somewhat dormant. Change of Location Reduces Stress Changing your environment also changes your outlook which leads to altering the way in which you may think. By maintaining the same surroundings you can actually experience an increase in the stress you feel. It is natural when sitting at your desk to expect yourself to 'produce' since this is your 'work' station. This results in you unknowingly applying more pressure to yourself. Boredom and depression are also a threat if the situation is not corrected. Any environmental change can 'release' the hold pressure has got on you. This 'breath of fresh air' can re-energize you and completely alter your thinking process. New Environment Triggers New Ideas Less pressure and more stimuli allow your mind to relax and take a new perspective on the way you think. Introducing new surroundings that are less structured can also loosen the reins on a thinking process that has become more regimented. Any change is stimulating especially if the new surroundings are unfamiliar. This will enable you to tap more deeply into your own creative resources. It is quite common for our creative thinking abilities to become stagnated by our own environment. If our surroundings lack stimulation our thinking process tends to hibernate thereby keeping any creative intelligence buried deep within. The reasons we mentioned above for the importance of change as a stimulus to our creativity serve as a reminder to break the bonds of your routine. To do so expose your mind to the change it needs in order to encourage or promote any new thoughts and ideas.