How to Activate your Creative Brain
…even if you think you don’t have one!
‘But, I’m Not Creative!’
This is an objection I often hear from my students, especially in the first week or two of trimester. I see the concern on their faces first, and then they utter those words: ‘I’m not a creative person, so I won’t be able to do this.’ They might have been tasked with designing an infographic in Canva for the first time, starting to build their own website or creating another form of digital content.
The thing is, almost 100% of the time, those same students end up producing amazing, engaging and thoughtful designs that prove their creative ability beyond doubt!
Anxiety over our ability to create something, or deliver on a brief, is common. We often associate raw creativity with artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers and so on, which aligns with a widespread belief that we are either natural-born creatives, or not. The truth is though, humans (and other animal species) are inherently creative. In some cases, our survival depends on it (although not as often as it did centuries ago).
Creativity essentially requires innovation, inventiveness and problem-solving, and we can find many insights from human and animal research studies about where it comes from. If you’re interested in reading further on the origins of creativity, this overview by Tim Vernimmen in Scientific American is fascinating.
Interestingly, and contrary to traditional thought, creativity does not only involve one particular region or side of the brain. The ‘left brain’ versus ‘right brain’ rhetoric has been challenged by recent findings. In fact, different areas of the brain are activated and communicate with each other during the creative process.
Kaufman (2013) explains that there are three large-scale brain networks critical to understanding the neuroscience of creativity:
The Executive Attention Network: required for focused attention on a complex task.
The Imagination Network: involved with creating mental simulations, memory and imagining alternative scenarios or perspectives to the current situation.
The Salience Network: monitors both external stimuli and the internal stream of consciousness. It flexibly focuses on whatever information is most important to solving the task at hand.
So, creative cognition is indeed complex but it’s good to know that we each have the ‘software’ on board which enables this. The question is, how can we best activate it?
Firstly, we need to get past our initial fear and feelings of inadequacy when it comes to being creative.
- Silence Your Inner Critic
You can acknowledge the little voice in your head that says ‘you’re not creative’ but then, let it go. If you already have a good technique for calming your mind, use that. Otherwise, think deliberately about the negative self-talk running around in your brain and then consciously turn your attention away from it and to the task at hand. You can also prepare your physical space with the tools you need (computer, paper and pen, a clear desk etc.) to help set your focus and intention.
2. Let the Ideas Flow
This step will look really different depending on what your creative task is. In many situations, just starting to write words and ideas on a page can help gather momentum. Once you’ve started, other ideas will flow and you will be building a creative concept in no time. One of the most amazing things about being creative is that you so often end up in a place you could never have imagined before you started.
Begin with a general intention or overall brief, but be open to ‘happy accidents’ along the way.
3. Step Away and Ponder
Creativity can almost never be rushed. I always spend some time away from a project or problem (after the brainstorming stage) to let it evolve in my mind. There are many ideas and revisions that happen in my imagination before they hit the page/screen/camera.
Two things often occur at this stage: you will notice things in your initial idea-set that won’t or can’t work for some reason, and you will think of other brilliant ideas to enhance your concept!
4. Just Start
If you feel uncertain about a task the best way to gather your skills and confidence is to start doing it! This is where all your ideas start to come together. Keep working away until you have a complete draft. Try not to judge your work while it’s in process. There will be time for editing and refining later.
5. Refine and Polish
If you can afford it, give yourself some time away from the project again before you start to edit. This will allow you to rest, re-calibrate and see your work with fresh eyes.
Once you’ve had a break, come back and edit, refine, add things and take away others until you feel that your work is complete.
And, that’s it!
Being creative is certainly not easy and although it seems to come more naturally to some, it’s absolutely possible for all of us!
The pressure to be creative (from ourselves and others) can often stifle our ideas. But breaking a task down into the stages above can help to reduce that pressure and kickstart the creative process, making it seem more achievable.
The more often you take on a new creative task, the easier it will be and the more your confidence will grow. But remember too that there will be days when you’re just not feeling it. I have days at the computer, or with camera in-hand when I feel frustrated and ‘stuck’. If I can, I come back to it the next day instead. At other times, I feel completely ‘on fire’; my ideas just seem to work, I feel inspired and get into a real state of ‘flow’. The key is to not be disheartened by small setbacks.
With time, patience and persistence you can hone your creative process and enjoy those moments (or, days) when your creation seems to take on a life of its own and grow into something amazing. It’s one of the best feelings in the world when you surprise yourself with what you’ve been able to create…and the only way to discover that feeling is to get started!
Sources/More Information
Kaufman, SB (19 August 2013) ‘The Real Neuroscience of Creativity’, Scientific American Blog Network, accessed 4 January 2020.
Vernimmen, T (16 September 2016) ‘Where Creativity Comes From’, Scientific American, accessed 4 January 2020.
