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Do You Recognize These 10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking?

copyblogger.com — This list of 10 common ways we suppress our natural creative abilities will help you realize that the barriers to a good idea are truly all in my head.

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  • elants, on 10/10/2007, -6/+10#11 - Making numbered lists
  • Datasta, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12#10 is the number one reason why people aren't creative.
  • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Nonsense. The way to be more creative is like learning to do everything else: practice. Getting hung up on someone's list of creative blocks is a block in itself.
    • capiCrimm, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2exactly, a lot of it sounds like feel-good mumbo-jumbo you find in get rich books. For example, setting arbitrary rules can be quite useful for creativity. It can allow you to focus your creative thought and organize it.

      You can be the most creative person alive, but if you can't express your creativity it doesn't matter. That's the important part, and where a lot of the frustration comes into play. How many people can think up a great creative idea for a book? How many of those people have the patience to sit down and write the book?
      • feebie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Creativity is not only applicable in the arts. That is one of the misconceptions people have about it. You don't have to express your creativity in writing, or artwork, or speech. But you can express it in the workplace too, whether you work in an office job or a sewer. The point of this article isn't to tell you to go and write a song. It's to tell you that you have more abilities than you think, and if you're feeling in a rut with anything you do, or feel like something in society or the way you work isn't doing the job, you have the ability to change that. And that is where creativity comes in. The ability to think out of the mold that human society thinks of as normal is what leads to innovation.
    • bonedead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Fo seriously
    • gandhii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1there is good advice for those who are prolific but not innovative..and there is good advice for those who are innovative but not prolific. This article would be for the former.
  • KevenM, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1#12. Routine
  • AlexCequea, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Lots of scientific research has shown that meditation improves creativity. I practice it, but i've yet to bend a spoon.
    Support the Public Meditation Project! http://PublicMeditationProject.blogspot.com
    • capiCrimm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2you need LSD to bend the spoon.
      • Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1...or, rather, you just need to be somewhat stronger than a kid in a toga. Brute force > spoons ;P
  • neuromute, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2>>Lots of scientific research has shown that meditation improves creativity.

    I've heard that about meditation too, but haven't really tried it. That's why I like the Matrix / enlightenment tie in with this article.
  • JosephRatliff, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Remove these mental blocks...and succeed.

    "The only blocks to success are those that we create ourselves, period."
    --Joseph Ratliff
    Author of The Profitable Business Edge 2
    http://josephratliff.name
  • MMarquit, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Great article! I guess it's time I start removing some of my own mental blocks...
  • ScrollMaker, on 10/15/2007, -7/+3Chicken McTitties
  • adsoftheworld, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Very nice article! Dugg! In my personal experience the best way to avoid these blocks to distract your attention from the job at hand, like on these videos: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/marketing_awards_shower , http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/marketing_awards_jogger

    Here is a compilation of 77 things that can help you avoid the block as well:
    http://creativebits.org/toolbox/77_ways_to_come_up_with_an_idea
  • FearlessFreep, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1011. Reading DIgg
  • Rikkochet, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Coincidentally that's also the top ten ways to utterly fail in business and communication.
  • dan222555, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Considering I meet everyone of those conditions pretty much spot on, I think I can confidently say I am just not creative.
  • xenoploid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3The book "The Artist's Way" is a classic book on creativity. A lot of it comes down to freeing your mind of distraction and not criticizing your own ideas.
    Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-Spiritual-Creativity-Anniversary/dp/1585421464/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-5439272-0487000?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190227198&sr=8-2
  • jimmy72, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1My balls are on fire.
  • WoollyMittens, on 10/15/2007, -1/+4Don't forget religion. It's hard to be creative when you live by a book of ancient rules and morals.
  • dienecho, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2So this list is anti-thesis to the minds of many of histories most creative thinkers: composers, authors, inventors, etc. I guess this list is great if you want to be an ad exec or stand up comic. Heightened creative rarely comes from affluence, self-confidence, comfort or a focused environment. Heightened creativity, historically, is usually most prevalent in people who struggle through great adversity.

    Just ask Beethoven, Dostoyevsky, Gallileo ,etc. In addition, creativity is often akin to science - i.e. it takes planning, serious thought (even humor / satire), purpose, and a critical mind (i.e. self criticism). Purpose would be the primary motive - something missing from most modern creative thinkers.
    Perhaps people should spend more time understanding the 'why' rather than the 'how' of creativity. We'd probably have a lot less unfocused, serendipitous crap on the air waves and in our book stores.

    Not to be negative and serious... ;-) It just frustrates me that creativity has been reduced to a series of self-help / motivational lists for people who don't have a clue about the history of art, business or science. Lists which propel people into a mindset of 'be creative for creative's sake', and forget that struggle, conflict, and serious thought are the cornerstone of great ideas. But alas, perhaps that is an era long forgotten.

    Citing the Matrix would be a great start. An idea that started out brilliantly (Matrix 1) and then progressively fell apart because of poor planning and an unfocused premise (Matrix 2 and 3).
  • manzoire, on 10/15/2007, -0/+2As a graphic designer and artist I think that this list hits all the points. I have been painting and drawing my whole life. and the most important thing is to wash away your mind. I know, that is soooo cliche, but its true. i can paint something one day for 10 minutes and not touch for a whole week. i just stare at the painting thinking about what im going to do next. the point is to stretch your arms.

    its actually very difficult for someone who isnt creative cause your mind has never even learnd how to stretch its wings. you feel that block in your mind, but i dont get those anymore because that block is actually a good thing! the block is your mind telling theres something wrong and the best way to get rid of it is to relax. look out the window, daydream.

    creativity is just a bunch of doors. if one door has a brick wall at the end (aka mental block), then you simply leave, take a deep breath and choose another of your pleasing.

    what riles me up about this is that creativity is one of the most important attributes a person can have. nobody seems to really have these attributes anymore (well in america atleast).
  • Refah, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0"11. Reading DIgg" Please see point # 6.
  • mobtek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Get positive stupid!
  • silverchrysalis, on 10/15/2007, -0/+3poor diet.
    honestly- heavy carbs and highly processed foods leave one sluggish in all areas of brains activity
  • RockJohny, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1sounds like American Democracy:

    "You create your own imaginary boxes simply by living life and accepting certain things as “real” when they are just as illusory as the beliefs of a paranoid delusional. The difference is, enough people agree that certain man-made concepts are “real,” so you’re viewed as “normal.” This is good for society overall, but it’s that sort of unquestioning consensus that inhibits your natural creative abilities"
  • Jess2mix, on 10/15/2007, -2/+0I've got 3 simple steps to creative thinking. (1) Roll it. (2)Spark it. (3)Smoke it! , You'll be thinking like Confucius. Take it a step further and journey into a K-hole, Than you're really "out of the box"
  • m3t00, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Why are all these numbered lists making it to the front page? Digg is being trolled by old women in nursing homes. Good Houskeeping, Woman's Day, McCall's... women love numbered lists, definitely not your average Diggtards.
  • crap12345, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I do think that I am not creative. And I have tried many ways to go beyond the rules or just think "out of the box". I guess some people just can't be creative.
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