How to Think Outside the Box

So in the workplace people ask you to think outside the box? Or do you really want a creative idea to write your new novel? Do not worry! Like any other skill, out-of-the-box thinking can be developed with practice. To start developing your creative thinking skills, see step 1.

Table of Contents

Find Creative Solutions

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Change your space. It is important that you step out of all the clichés to foster creativity. How to change old habits is one of the common ideas of successful and creative thinkers. This means you can create a separate sequence, or you can simply try to change it. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Take a shower. It’s strange that showering is beneficial in this, since people often come up with great ideas while standing in the shower (and then forget when they go to get paper and pen). If you get stuck in your thoughts, jump in the shower, grab a pen and paper, and see what happens next.
Take a walk. Like taking a shower, it seems that taking a walk also fosters creativity. Whether it’s a prelude to a creative project or part of it, going for a walk sparks creative inspiration. Steve Jobs once held walking meetings to stir up ideas. Tchaikovsky walked around the village several times before publishing his final work.
Create a psychological distance between your daily routine and time for creativity. Writer Toni Morrison watches the sun rise every morning before starting to write. She feels this helps her enter her creative world.

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Brainstorm. With thousands of ideas coming to mind, especially the weird and slightly crazy ones, we can pick a few that are really good. Brainstorming can free up your way of thinking, keeping you from getting stuck in old patterns of thinking. ^{[2] X Research Source}

The brainstorming step does not take into account whether it is possible or not. Do not limit yourself when brainstorming. This is the time to welcome all ideas, no matter how silly or illusory they may seem. If you start limiting yourself in this stage of the mind game, you won’t get very far.
During this stage, avoid saying things to yourself that instead encourage and stifle creativity. Stop yourself every time you say: “It won’t work”, “We’ve never done this before”, “We can’t solve this”, “We don’t have enough time”. “. ^{[3] X Research Sources}
For example, you are stuck writing a new story. Instead of obsessing over the next paragraph, start throwing ideas for what happens after that, or think about how the story would go if you broke the boundaries of what you have. writeable (you may even need to change the ending to make the story make sense).

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Reconceptualize the problem. Looking at a problem or project in a new way is part of the process of finding creative solutions and ideas. Seeing things from a new perspective allows you to see new solutions that you might not have considered otherwise. Fortunately, there are solid supports that you can apply to reset the concept. ^{[4] X Research Sources}^{[5] X Research Sources}

Turn the problem upside down. This can be done literally and figuratively; Turning a picture upside down can actually make it easier to draw, because your brain has to focus on how to create it rather than on what ideas to present. This works for other conceptual problems as well.
For example, if you’re writing a book and aren’t sure how to connect the main character to an event in the story, then ask yourself, “Does this character have to play the role of the protagonist?” main role? What would the story be like if another character were to play the lead role? Or is it possible to use more than one character as the main character?”
Proceed in reverse. Sometimes you need to focus on the solution first, and starting from that solution, you grow by going backwards. For example, you are working in the advertising department at a newspaper, and your newspaper is losing profits because it is not making enough advertising. You should start from the best end result (earn lots of good ads). You do the opposite by contacting the industries and groups of businesses that can deliver the most profitable advertising to you.

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Dreamy. Daydreaming helps you associate, form patterns, and recall knowledge. This is the key to out-of-the-box thinking, as it can help you make connections that you wouldn’t have otherwise imagined. So, when you daydream, the best ideas come out of nowhere in your head. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Take time to daydream. Turn off your computer, TV, and phone. If you keep focusing on distractions, your brain will have a hard time resting and associating.
You can daydream while walking or in the shower (this is also one reason why walking and bathing can lead to creative thinking). Dream in the morning while you are in bed, and at night before you go to sleep.

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Set ranges. Sometimes you can have a hard time thinking outside the box, so it’s time to set some baseline for yourself. This may sound like a barrier to creativity, but if you set the right boundaries, you will find that it really opens the way for you. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Starting with a topic that is too broad can put a lot of pressure on you. For example, instead of saying, “How can I increase ad revenue?”, ask questions like, “How can I encourage businesses in the community to increase advertising? What do I need to do to make my clients see that advertising in my newspaper is the right choice?”, or “What can I do to influence potential customers to get them to advertise in my newspaper?” ?” or “What kind of incentives can I use to encourage businesses to advertise?”
You’re still asking open-ended questions, and still thinking broadly about options, but anchoring your ideas to a specific problem or task. This will help you come up with more concrete ideas.
To take another example: instead of asking yourself, “How does my youth novel differ from the ones already in circulation?”, think about specific parts of the story: “Who will be the main character? Is this person like every other main character (white, sexually normal, pretty but doesn’t know she’s pretty?”) or if it’s a fantasy, “What would the magic system be? Is it fanciful philosophies, or is the magic of witches emerging among young people?”
Or you can tell yourself that you have to rewrite a scene in the story when your character can’t practice their magic. How do they get out of that situation?

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Consider the worst case scenario. Fear inhibits creativity. By imagining the worst, not only can you prepare for it, but you can also convince yourself that it’s not so bad that you shouldn’t try.

An example for an advertiser: You can think about what would happen if you tried to implement a new plan to incentivize long-term advertising partners (such as better placement, color advertising, etc.) for discounts, etc.). Perhaps the worst thing is that no one will heed the offer, or you will lose money because of it. Make a plan to deal with those possible failures.
Example for a novelist: The worst-case scenario is that no publisher or agent wants to release your story because they actually need a copy of the popular youth story book. most recently released.

Sustain Your Creativity For Long

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Eliminate negativity. What’s stopping you from thinking outside the box is negativity and nothing else. If you keep telling yourself that you can’t be creative in your thinking or denying every idea that seems “out of the box,” this will limit what you can find. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Think about what it is when you tell yourself your ideas. When you come up with a strange idea for your book, do you immediately think, “I could never write like that”? This is exactly what prevents you from ever writing that book.
Every time you feel like you’re about to react negatively to your ideas, replace the negative thoughts with positive ones or compromise. For example, if you feel like you’re thinking, “I’ll never be able to get people to advertise with those offers,” stop and say, “I’m going to try and see how these deals work.” Would that be more effective?”

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Keep your creative mind sharp. Like any other skill, to develop creativity, you need to practice. Even if there is no particular problem that requires a creative solution, keep developing your creativity. It will help you when you are suddenly faced with a situation where you have to think out of the box. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Sort a word in alphabetical order. Take out a word from a magazine or bulletin board and rearrange its letters in alphabetical order. For example, the word NUMBER can be rearranged to BEMNRU. This exercise gets your brain working because it forces you to take every piece of information you get (all the letters) and do something extraordinary with it. This trains your brain to find unexpected connections and solutions, and to see problems differently.
Play a game of finding other uses for things in your home. This will teach you to see things and situations in a different light. For example, use an old boot to make a planter, or make a table out of books.

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Change your daily routine. Creativity thrives when you’re not stuck in old habits. Even the smallest changes can help you get out of your rut and encourage your creative thinking. ^{[10] X Research Source}

Step out of your comfort zone. Doing new things, especially ones that you didn’t plan for, can make it easier to cope with new circumstances. It also opens your mind and helps acquaint you with new ideas and situations, so you can come up with new ideas.
Let’s act spontaneously. Do things you don’t plan on doing from time to time. This forces you to adapt quickly and solve problems immediately. You can also apply this to your ongoing project.
Change the little things. For example, every day you change your way home from work. Change the coffee shops every morning you visit.

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Research another industry. This will help you see how people outside of your field are doing, and it will provide ideas that you can use to incorporate in your field. Those industries may be completely different or overlapping with yours, but that should be enough to give you a fresh perspective on your industry.

For example, people in the advertising industry can read articles on psychology or observe the activities of businesses that are asking for advertising.
Novelists can read works outside of their chosen genre (for young people), such as real stories, mystical stories, and classics, for inspiration.

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Learn new things. The more you expand your horizons, the more likely your mind is to associate. The more information your brain takes in, the more chances it has to come up with new ideas.

Study subjects outside your field. It can be anything from cooking (as long as you’re not a chef!), to rock climbing. Novelists can use knowledge learned in cooking class to devise a magical system (those who have a sense of what they are doing and don’t use instructions, as opposed to those who are careful). follow specific instructions).
Learn a new language. Not only will this sharpen your mind and form new connections, it can also open you up to new ways of thinking. Advertisers can use linguistics to open up bilingual advertising to reach more groups of people than before.

Connect with Others Creatively

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Be with creative people. Humans are social animals. You will be inspired if the people around you are inspired. Creativity is maintained at a high level when you work with or befriend people who inspire you and your work.

You will find this especially helpful if you are friends with people who are not in the same industry as you. These people can give you a new perspective on work that you can’t learn from someone with the same ideas as you.
That’s another reason why it’s important to do things outside of your comfort zone. That’s where you will meet people who challenge and inspire creativity in you, who have a different way of thinking than you.

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Pay attention to the ideas of others. Ideas do not exist in isolation. Even creative people like Salvador Dali (for example) get ideas for his paintings from pre-existing sources that he has received. Paying attention to the ideas of others will cultivate your own.

You will see how others think outside the box. Learning other people’s thoughts and ways of thinking will help you avoid stagnation in your own thinking. You may be wondering, “How would my creative artist friend view this advertising problem?”
You can also learn the ideas of famous reformers. See what ideas work and what don’t. Look at their ways to encourage creative thinking (like the Steve Jobs, Tchaikovsky and Toni Morrison examples at the beginning of this article) and try to do it.

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Learn to listen. One way to encourage creative thinking is to be quiet and listen to what others have to say. This is a good idea, partly because it helps you really hear what the other person has to say, so you won’t say what’s been said before. It also helps you organize your ideas before speaking.

For example, an advertiser tries to convince a business to advertise, but that business hates its newspaper. If he doesn’t really listen to the business’s concerns (e.g. they feel their ads are not being prioritized, and they don’t like some content in the newspaper), he won’t convince him. recover them. The business would then become part of a plan to bring back the disgruntled posters.

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Remember, you will be presenting ideas that may not be “normal”. This just reminds you that you are working with other people, especially in a professional relationship. Sometimes out-of-the-ordinary ideas aren’t actually the right way to do it.

You should also remember that your ideas don’t always work. No problem! It’s part of the learning process, and that’s why you have to think about the worst-case scenario when coming up with a new idea.

Advice

Get ready to explore things beyond your comfort zone. It brings freshness, from which you can find interesting things and meet new people.
Read something that’s not in your familiar genre. For example, if you think you “hate” crime stories, why don’t you try reading one? You might be surprised how good it is; even if it doesn’t look good, you’ve challenged your thinking process.

Warning

Learning to change your thinking style is not an easy or quick process. Please be patient. Enjoy your journey there.

Steps

Find Creative Solutions

Sustain Your Creativity For Long

Connect with Others Creatively

Advice

Warning

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