De-stress Through The Art of Creative Thinking
Our lives are filled with a variety of stress factors and this includes the small and large stresses that we face every day. We hear and read a lot about various methods of de-stressing; from Yoga to quiet time and meditation. But, let’s get real, most of us don’t take the time we really need to de-stress and yet we are also feeling the moment by moment pressure of often accomplishing the impossible in our personal and business lives. There may be a bit of an answer for you that involves the art of creative thinking while de-stressing.
If you are like me, your job demands the creative process and this can be on many levels. Whether you are crafting a well worded email, doing a management presentation or designing an ad for the company, all of this requires the creative process. There are many days that we are just ‘brain-dead’. It doesn’t matter how long we site at the keyboard, nothing comes to top of mind that is different, unique or actually says what we want it to say. The term ‘thinking out of the box’ is what most people will tell you. This worn out terminology actually has its roots in the 1980’s self-help business courses that encouraged employees to go outside of the standard business thought processes. Easy to say, very hard to do.
There are new studies that are showing that you can actually accomplish creative thinking, but it requires that you physically remove yourself from the environment that is stifling you and place yourself in a totally different ‘box’. You may take note that this isn’t the first time for study results to have realized that the body-mind situation is more linked than previously thought. In the past, researchers have found that holding a cold drink (vs. a warm drink) in your hands actually influenced perception of the type of personality of a stranger. A warm drink led to perception that the stranger was a warmer type of person and visa versa. Another study indicated that walking forwards and backwards actually invoked the memories of the individual of future or past events, respectively.
So when you are feeling stressed and yet being required to be creative, you may want to physically move yourself to another environment. This may be a walk outdoors, a quick jaunt to a favorite store or anything that you have normally found to be a more pleasant experience. The studies are showing that relocating yourself actually generates more creativity. You will also notice that the stress you were feeling has been placed ‘on hold’ as your physical body is in the new location.
The process of stirring your mind with alternative physical activities in different environments actually activates different portions of the brain. This is why writers will sometimes move to a more soothing location when they experience writer’s block. You may not have a lot of time in your busy day to devote to finding a different location, so look around to see if there are shorter alternatives. I try to devote 15 minutes to a short walk. You need to deliberately clear your mind, enjoy the surroundings and realize that the world won’t come to a screeching halt, just because you don’t get that report in two hours before the deadline. When I return, I find that I am rejuvenated, have less stress and can pound that report out with clarity than I had before.
The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.
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 Stress Prevention 8 Aug 2012 |
