Creative Idea #1: Spend 10 Minutes a Day on a New Creative Pursuit

If it's truly a new creative pursuit, you might find there's a learning curve, but luckily microlearning is just the ticket! Studies have shown that it's ideal to spend 10 minutes a day learning something new (than, say, an hour per day), because it's fun and easy to generate 10 minutes of passion, motivation, and enthusiasm for a short burst of time. If you can commit to spending 10 minutes per day on a new pursuit, you'll be surprised how quickly those little chunks of time add up.

If you're a painter, try creative writing for 10 minutes a day. Read a book on a brand new subject that interests you–a book you don't need for work, book club, or for any other reason besides the sheer pleasure of learning something new. Learn a new language. Yes, really. You can learn a new language in just 10 minutes per day with apps like Duolingo which is free and has 21 languages on offer.

Creative Idea #2: Try Doing Things With Your Non-Dominant Hand

Did you know that using your non-dominant hand increases the activation in the non-dominant hemisphere of your brain? Well guess what? Using your non-dominant hand is strongly correlated with improved levels of creativity and intuition.

A Stanford experiment showed the using our non-dominant hand can make us more open-minded.

And using the non-dominant hand forces us to really think, be concious of our action, and look at things in a new way. Try brushing your teeth with your “wrong” hand and you'll see. It's trickier than you might imagine.

It's good for both our brains and our bodies to practice using them in a new ways. Isn't that a huge element of creativity? Thinking about things in a fresh way?

Need some ideas for tasks to try with your non-dominant?

• Unlocking your front door
• Brushing your teeth or hair
• Using the computer mouse
• Opening jars or bottles
• Writing
• Eating
• You got the idea!

Creative Idea #3: Think About a Creative Problem Before Falling Asleep

Have you ever been thinking about a creative problem before you fell asleep and lo and behold you had fresh ideas about the solution when you woke up in the morning? That's because there are 4 types of brain waves and you happened to be in the theta state when you were pondering your problem.

You can be in a theta brain wave state when you're in the shower, or driving on the freeway, or taking a walk. It's the brain wave state where you're doing a task that has become so automatic for you that you can mentally disengage and free flow think.

You're also in theta when you're falling asleep or waking up and between active alertness and deep dreaming.  It's the intriguing border between the conscious and subconscious and it is the perfect state for creative problem solving.

Artists such as Mary Shelley and Salvador Dali, and scientists such as Edison and Einstein all knew that this state was a key time for big ideas and can yield amazing results.

With a little practice, you can take advantage of this state to have creative breakthroughs.

Creative Idea #4: Challenge Your Assumptions. Throw Away an Element You Thought Was Key

Sometimes we have a block in our creative flow because we try to repeat past success. Just for fun, look at all the circumstances and conditions you “think” are required for you to create something new and original. Now change up one of them or throw one away completely! Think you need quiet time at your art table? Set up at a picnic table in a public park. Think you need your 4B drawing pencil? Use a crayon! Mix it up and see what happens.

Creative Idea #5: Collect Advice From 3 Creative Heroes and Do The Opposite

This idea is similar to number 4 and it's really just about freeing up our thinking. We've all heard about interviewing our heroes about their methods and letting those inspire us. What if you collected advice from your heroes and role models and did the exact opposite. Now THAT would create an unpredictable result and perhaps even something of unimaginable beauty.