Can Background Noise Boost Creativity?

One of the biggest challenges of being a Productive Creative is finding your creative workflow. There are many ways to do this, but one of the methods I’ve used, and have seen others successfully use, is mentally putting your mind in another location. You may have heard of this practice under such names as “Mind Palaces” or “Memory Mansions.” The idea with those techniques is that by imagining yourself in a very specific physical location (imaginary or real) it allows your brain to connect and remember things that it couldn’t otherwise. The brain’s ability to remember things works better with more senses attached to it.

Creatively, this works the same way. If you imagine yourself in the mountains of Alaska, it’s easier to paint them. Or if you are writing about an adventure in a forest, having those smells and sounds will bring the scene alive in your mind. Using all five senses allows your brain to be completely immersed somewhere else, where creativity can more easily happen.

Continue reading “Can Background Noise Boost Creativity?”

Creativity Brain Hacks

A few days ago, I wrote about my reasoning and motivation for diving into deep projects. I didn’t really get into how those things happen, though, and so I figured I’d give you a glimpse into what my creative process looks like.

I developed a few things I’ve begun doing to make it easier to dive into big projects. Some of these aren’t exactly revelatory. Some of them I got from Cal Newport’s “Deep Habits” study hacks blog, some of them I just figured out.

So, here’s my suggestions for Creativity Brain Hacks: Continue reading “Creativity Brain Hacks”