Staying Creative: Beat the Brain Cramp!
Over at Brain Based Biz Robyn McMaster has been asking for ways to beat the BrainCramp syndrome. You know, when your brain freezes and you can't think. It happens to me when I get mad or too tired or I'm trying too hard.
Ways that I beat it:
- MOVE. I take a walk. I weed the garden. I get on the exercise ellipse machine. Do the stairs. Walk down to the coffee shop and back. Put on some fun rock and roll and dance.
- WATER. Sitting by the ocean is the best, but since I'm in Ohio, it's more like walking around the pond in my town. Or taking a shower. Or watching the rain. Wading thru a stream. There is something about the running water, moving water that helps to unlock my frozen thoughts.
- DRIVE. It's not the same as moving, but similar. Expressway is best... stop and go traffic doesn't help. We used to live in Rhode Island and had a 12 hour drive home to Ohio & back. That helped. A quick 2 minute drive doesn't do the trick. You've got to get into the rhythm of a longer drive. Maybe it's the white lines going by that's semi hypnotic.
- Dumb VIDEO GAMES. You know the kind where the little color things drop. Like Tetris or Cubis or Pop the Balloons? I think it's the repetitive motion, but it opens and unlocks some part of my brain and I can think again.
- GOOGLE. Type a few key phrases into google or google blog search or google image search. It takes my mind into new places and helps to make me think about the project differently.
Worst ways that I've found to try to unlock brain freeze: 1) stare into the white nothingness of a blank page of a word document on my computer monitor. 2) stare at a totally white piece of paper. 3) look at a clean whiteboard. 4) Forcing myself to think about something that I can't figure out.
The more if try to force it, the less likely creativity will happen. It's got to be a flow, not a force.
12 comments:
Hi there, Chris! Your top two are mine, also...for water, either a babbling brook or ocean waves hitting the shore. A dog person, I'll add one more...playing with my pets. I'm also a handler for our certified therapy dog and I know from that work that touching and petting animals lowers blood pressure, relaxes and can even improve healing time. Ok, our Newfie is staring at me, so I gotta stop and go pet him...
Chris, what a surprise to see this. I'd love to post it on my site so that it's included in the collection I've been gathering on my site. If you'd be willing, please do send me a bigger photo. I'll provide my email for you on MyBlogLog. I'll add a couple of brain fact to what you say. :-)
I can second many of your suggestions.
Getting outside and getting some sun and fresh air always seems like a good idea to me.
It seems I get my best ideas in the shower. I don't know if it's the water as you suggested or what.
Tetris helps sometimes.
Just doing something, anything, different.
Taking a nap.
Do something creative, but unrelated to the task at hand (draw, play music, whatever).
A couple of others that may provide some brain ignition:
- Use the StumbleUpon tool bar and search for a particular term.
- Keep an "airplane" book handy, such as 'Radical Careering' or 'You, Inc' handy - the messages are short and profitable.
Of course, Justin's 'taking a nap' is one I'm fond of:-)
Great list Chris, and it reminds me what could help us whenever the "cramp" hits. Sometimes it's more a matter of remembering - and your list helps with that!
Tammy:
Yes, I love playing with my dogs too. It helps me get out of a rut. I find that I have to be "present" in the moment with them. We've got a shephard mix and a lab mix.
Robyn:
Thanks for offering to post this on your website. I'm flattered. Thank you!
Chris
Justin:
Although I love taking naps, they don't help me with creativity... they help me stay up later at night though.
I'm most creative in the morning, but I have to have a full nights sleep first. There's something about erasing all the "stuff" from the day before.
Thanks, Chris
Hi Chris
Reading your blog for the first time. This one comes really good. I am also a marketer and get into a lot of content writing for marketing promotions. I often find myself staring at the word document...looking for some beginners...and it has never worked.
Invariably its the getting out of PC and net which has worked.
This has reinforced my beliefs.
Chris,
Another technique that helps me get out of my braind freeze is to read blogs in related sectors.
Reading some one else's opinion really clears your mind and gives you fresh inspiration.
Jeff
Jeff:
I totally agree. Thanks for the suggestion!
Chris
Hi Chris - I just came across your blog and I'll be coming back often!
I like the Google suggestion. I've often used the image search myself for trying to get ideas when trying to take something abstract and create a visual representation (designing a logo for a client, for example!)
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