How can you improve your creativity? Well, first let’s look at what creative problem solving looks like by doing a fun word association game.

Here are three words: cheese, ocean, sky. Can you come up with a fourth that fits with each? (One answer is blue, as in blue cheese, blue ocean and blue sky.) Problems like this one can be solved either by trial and error, or through insight where we get that “A-HA! moment” that often accompanies a creative leap. If you were an ancient Greek, “Eureka!” might be your cry.

We are all creative!

We all have the ability to think creatively, and certain activities can bring out that ability. Musicians, for instance, tend to think creatively. But just listening to music also has a positive effect on creativity as does playing video games or engaging in aerobic activity. These activities put us in a positive mood and increase blood flow to the brain. To flex your creative muscle try some other word associations (answers at the bottom):

Light – Birthday – Stick

Cross – Rain – Tie

Boot – Summer – Ground

Manners – Round – Tennis

Health – Taker – Less

Off – Trumpet – Atomic

Carpet – Alert – Ink

(Answers at the bottom.)

Adam Green, director of the Georgetown Laboratory for Relational Cognition and president-elect of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity, told Entrepreneur.com: “Creativity isn’t made out of a magical fairy part of the brain. It’s essentially using all the same tools that go into doing everything else … but applying those tools in creativity-specific ways.”

You can be creative if you choose to

When people try to think more creatively, they usually can. Green says that “cells that fire together, wire together.” The more you use your brain to do something, the stronger the connections between the cells involved become. We need to dedicate more time in our day to actively thinking, which usually means unplugging from email, social media and more. Try putting this idea into action in your everyday routine by avoiding bringing your phone to bed or to the bathroom. Turn off notification settings for social media apps and email. Consider dedicating specific time in your day to thinking creatively.

Other advice Green gives is to change your surroundings, even if just minimally. Creativity “nudges” can come from changes as small as a warmer cup of coffee or different colors in the room. Try switching out some of the items on your desk, orienting yourself differently or doing an overhaul of the bulletin board you sit facing. Know that those “nudges” don’t only pertain to your physical surroundings — they’re also connected to your social setting. Take advantage of opportunities to periodically work in different areas of the office, sit with new colleagues or invite people from different departments to lunch.

Although you might not have much control over your work environment, making any possible adjustments could translate to a significant creativity boost. “You want your physical and social surroundings to change,” says Robert Epstein, senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. “If it’s the same old stuff on the walls and your desk — and the same people you’re talking to — that’s not necessarily good for creativity.”

Other techniques for getting a creative mindset

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has some useful advice to having a more creative mindset:

• Be open-minded. One of the most important traits of creative people is open-mindedness. This means that you are curious about others and believe that you can learn from them.
• Try new things. Feed your creative engine with new experiences. Go to a concert you wouldn’t normally attend or eat a type of food you’ve never had.
• Break the routine. Picasso said, “Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others.” Avoid the trap of redundancy and break out of monotony by always asking yourself, “Can I do better?”
• Ask the right questions. Imagining your problem from a different perspective will jump-start your discovery of how to improve creativity. Ask questions as if you are an observer or the customer of your business.  
• Move your body. Writer Henry David Thoreau said, “The moment my legs begin to move my thoughts begin to flow.” Studies have found that exercise improves memory and creative thinking. 
• New perspectives. In business, make sure you include people with different life experiences and perspectives in your brainstorming sessions, and always include people who have different opinions than you.

Workshops to boost creativity

There are dozens of simple techniques like these that can boost creativity. Our creativity workshops help organizations improve creative thinking and innovation to improve productivity and competitiveness.

(Answers: Candle, Bow, Camp, Table, Care, Blast, Red)