"Creativity is the intelligence that has fun", said Albert Einstein. Creativity is more than just fun, it can help you achieve your goals. What techniques can stimulate your creative abilities? What are their advantages? How do you set up a creative environment? Marine Gandouet, an expert in personal organisation, explains.
Creativity is your ability to generate new and original ideas. It allows you to see beyond the obvious and come up with unique solutions. It's a combination of imagination, daring and perseverance in the face of challenges.
Allowing yourself to be creative in order to gain a better understanding of yourself and achieve your goals.
What techniques can you use to stimulate your creativity?
In practical terms, what creative techniques can you use to help you achieve your objectives?
1/ Brainstorming
This technique, which involves brainstorming, is based on creative and collective problem-solving. The following 4 prerequisites must be met before it can be used:
- Quantity before quality
- No criticism or comments during the exploration phase
- Taking notes of all ideas
- Allowing yourself to think outside the box
There are many benefits: opening up the field of possibilities without judgement, the feeling of being freed from your mental load by exploring all possible ideas, encouraging and valuing collective ideas and teamwork, creative problem solving by selecting one or more proposals at the end.
Example
Results of a brainstorming session on the question "How can we improve customer satisfaction within the company?
2/ Mind mapping
It involves representing information visually and graphically. Also known as a "mind map" or "heuristic map", mind mapping enables you to collect your ideas as they come to you, in no particular order, and then structure them visually. This can be done on a simple sheet of paper, or on an application such as Mindomo, Mindmeister, Canva, or even in open source via the application on the La Digitale website, Digimindmap.
How do you go about it? Start with a bubble in the centre where you write the main subject. Create branches with main headings. Then for each heading, add other branches, each containing a secondary idea. This allows you to follow a thought tree.
What are the benefits? Putting ideas down on paper and organising them, making them concrete, structuring them for better analysis and memorisation, helping you to get moving on a project.
Example
Image created by Marine Gandouet using Mindomo.
3/ The success chart
The idea is to draw up a chart and note down your successes, from the smallest to the biggest. Imagine an A3 sheet hanging on the wall in your office. For each success, a post-it note naming the achievement. This can also be in digital format. The important thing is to have a board that is visually available as often as possible!
What are the benefits? Valuing your successes, boosting your self-esteem, appreciating the small steps that prevent you from making a mountain out of a molehill, achieving your goals more quickly.
Example
Read also
"Do you have the feeling that creativity is a quality you don't possess? Think again, we are all creative. As with memory, creativity can be developed through simple exercises and/or simply by changing your habits.
4/ The display panel
Also known as a vision board, this creative technique involves creating a picture that is mainly made up of images. You can also add a few words. Create a board with images that evoke dream situations in one or more areas of life (personal, professional, family, health, financial, etc.). This can be done on paper by cutting out images from magazines, or digitally by searching for images on the Internet.
What are the benefits? Intuitive introspection, positive visualisation of your projects - one image is equivalent to 1,000 words for the brain, focus, achieving your goals.
Example
5/ The visual logbook for getting organised
In the form of 3 illustrated lists, organise and plan your days using Trello, for example, while stimulating your creativity. Choose a background image that appeals to you and motivates you.
Then draw up your first "To do today" list with a photo of a cooking pot. This corresponds to the tasks you can do during the day.
In the second column, the "To do in a week" list with a picture of a fridge. These are tasks that can be set aside to be completed during the week.
Then, in the third column, the "To do later" list, with a photo of a freezer. Here you put all the things you want to do in more than a week's time.
What are the benefits? Using the time horizon allows you to organise yourself over time, without the need for a diary - which may seem too structured for some people. The flexibility of the tool and the methodology mean that you can measure the time you have available and achieve your objectives.
For the method to work, other complementary rules apply.
For each task, it is essential to note the estimated time and start with an action verb. Examples: "10 min reread file x", "30 min draw up procedure Z and send it to Mrs Y".
Example
The skills developed will enable you to achieve your personal or professional goals by exploring your creativity.
[Training]
Getting to know yourself better to develop your potential
This course offers you tailor-made tools, combining creativity and practical application, to help you better understand and control the way you operate, whatever the situation and the people you interact with.
Example of practical work: different materials (examples: a large sheet of cardboard, magazines, newspaper articles, scissors, various pencils, etc.).
Participants speak out:
"A very instructive course, requiring introspection, openness ... tools to be kept."
"Passing on some very interesting tools to help us get to know each other better".
Creating a creative environment
1/ Creating a space conducive to creativity, because the physical environment is of vital importance
- A well-lit environment
A study by Cornell University (2018) indicates that employees who work in an office environment lit by daylight suffer significantly less (84 %) from eye strain and headaches, two major obstacles to productivity.
- Choosing the right colours
Shades of blue and green encourage concentration and creativity, as they are associated with tranquillity and innovation.
- Tidy and tidy up
A study carried out in 2020 by the International Well Building Institute revealed that 88 % of employees believe that their work environment influences their productivity and job satisfaction.
- Incorporating natural elements (plants, etc.)
These elements can improve the mental well-being and creativity of 15 %, according to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health.
2/ Setting up daily rituals to encourage creativity
Daily rituals will help to create a framework conducive to personal expression and intellectual stimulation. Here are 3 examples:
- Intellectual stimulation routinee
Having rituals such as reading, writing or meditating helps to nourish the mind every day. These rituals encourage concentration and open-mindedness, which are essential for stimulating creative ideas.
- Freeing up mental space
The repetition of certain everyday gestures frees up mental space for creative thinking. For example, simple tasks such as having a cup of coffee, taking a walk or doing yoga allow the mind to wander, facilitating the emergence of new ideas.
- Regularity and disciplinee
Consistency in rituals helps to structure the day and overcome procrastination. The brain begins to associate certain times or moments of the day with creativity, reinforcing the habit of devoting oneself to creative projects.
3/ Developing your creative environment with Canva
Canva is a free online graphic design tool with paid features. You can use it to encourage your creativity, thanks to the templates offered by the site/application. The creations can be used to design high-quality media that are suitable for professional use, which can go a long way towards helping you achieve your objectives with striking, consistent visuals.
Read also
Discover models to make :
- Mind map
- Graphics
- Infographics
- Vision board
- Roadmaps
- ....
Sharing experience - Marine Gandouet
I use Canva on a daily basis to create visuals for my LinkedIn posts, as well as Mindomo to create mind maps and Padlet to create a padlet with all the sequences, exercises and various videos and resources. It's a moment I always look forward to.
To create educational games for training, I use other tools such as Wordwall. Every time I use them, my need for creativity is satisfied. It helps me to visualise the information I was imagining in my head. I couldn't do without these 4 tools.
Every year I also create my visualisation chart. This allows me to both introspect and move towards what's most important to me. I use it as a wallpaper on my phone. In this way, I stay in daily contact with both my professional and personal goals. It's a moment I look forward to every year.
Ultimately, creativity and self-awareness are closely linked, as creativity serves as a vehicle for inner exploration, self-expression and authentic development. By cultivating your creativity, you also cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself. This leads you to achieve your objectives, to reach goals that make sense to you, professionally and personally. ORSYS training courses such as Developing your creativity can help.
