In the post-pandemic period, maintaining creativity and productivity without sacrificing health and well-being is critical. How would you like to thrive at work or in life if you can’t take care of yourself first?
It’s more important to be able to take care of your brain – the part of you that controls everything you do. When it works at a high level, like in a state of flow, it’s magical.
What’s the best thing about it? Anyone can train his or her brain to improve its cognitive function to think better, more clearly, experience more insight, and achieve more creative breakthroughs.
Here are four things you can do to boost your productivity and your imaginative brain.
1. Put yourself in an unfamiliar place
Want to experience more bursts of creativity and Insight? Research has shown that the surest way to stimulate your imagination is to seek out environments in which you have no experience. Booking your next company offsite in the typical meeting room of your typical five-star hotel doesn’t create an environment that can lead to new insights. Instead, new breakthroughs come from new people and new environments—anything in which the brain has a hard time predicting what will happen next.
2. Daydreaming
BookImagine: How Creativity WorksTeach Us How to Use Right Brain Thinking A gateway to more innovative ideas and creative breakthroughs. One brain trick suggested in the book is to free yourself from intense focus — left-brain activity that triggers stress and blocks your imagination. Instead, research suggests allowing more abstract idea formation (right brain activity), which would unlock more creative insights. One way is to practice “productive daydreaming” while doing something relaxing. Think about how many times you’ve come up with something unexpectedly good while taking a hot shower or bath.
3. Give employees some freedom to do what they want
Researchers have identified that employees who have time during the workday to do whatever they want – whether Side hustles or just tinkering with new things or hobbies – are more likely to generate innovative or creative ideas. This sends an important message that employers trust their employees to find solutions and manage their time in their own way.
4. Let people play
People who have fun at work are more creative and productive, make better decisions, and get along better with colleagues, researchers find . They’re also less likely to call in sick or be late for work than people who aren’t having fun. To unleash your creative potential, a University of Toronto study suggests hacking employees’ brains with more gaming activities to elevate their emotions and generate ideas. Research also shows that a fun culture can improve work quality and mental health in five different ways:
Fun increases creativity and willingness to help
