22 MARCH 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® in creativity improves mental health. Creativity can reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. It also helps some people process trauma. When you are in the creative process - all else recedes - your stress and problems are gone for the time being. You simply cannot be worried and create at the same time. Regular involvement in creativity improves your physical health, as well. A study by the National Endowment for the Arts determined older adults participating in creative arts programs had fewer visits to the doctor, fewer falls, and took fewer prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Creativity has also been shown to improve pain management, boost the immune system, and lower heart rate. Creativity does take time. I suggest routinely scheduling time to break out of your routine. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but hear me out. To be creative, we need to refresh our brains. You can do this by going for a walk, soaking in a bath, riding a bus or train, daydreaming, or meditating. You can also do this by finding a repetitive task that doesn’t require any thinking. For example, I find mowing the lawn or blowing leaves can clear my thoughts and open my mind to whatever wants to pop into it. This works so well, it helps to keep a pad and pen handy so I can jot down emerging ideas. Next, schedule time to be creative. After your brain-clearing activity, spend some time doing one of your favorite creative activities: drawing, painting, sculpting, dancing, playacting, composing music, coloring in a coloring book, floral arrangement, sewing, knitting, making recipes, gardening and garden design, woodworking, or writing (poetry, stories, or in your journal). If you get an idea while on your brain-clearing activity, then spend some time working on it. Once you’ve established a habit of creativity, you’ll find yourself using it throughout your day in all or most of your activities: work, play, hobbies, cooking, cleaning, and raising children. Your daily practice will prepare you to recognize opportunities for fun and fortune. My habit of creativity has bled into other areas of my life, such as cooking, where I will modify a recipe or create my own from scratch. I’ve also found I’m a better problem solver, and I discover little shortcuts and efficiencies that smooth out my day. You can find ways to be creative everywhere. When you make a beautiful home environment for you and your family, that is creativity; and when you plan a party for your friends, it is creativity too. When you step back and look at what you've made, your creation can give you a sense of accomplishment, and a feeling of pride. The success you experience can also increase your self-confidence. Your creativity habit may help you in your career by giving you moneymaking ideas or enable you to be more productive. According to a study by Adobe, companies that encourage creativity are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their competitors in terms of revenue growth. An additional way you can build your creativity habit is to nurture your curiosity as a daily exercise. Use your curiosity to question authority and challenge the status quo, and come up with new ways of doing things. The best way to ensure a creativity habit is to avoid TV, social media, smartphones, and computers. Use the time instead to break out of your routine and schedule some fun, creative activities. To sum it all up: clear your mind, find the silence, and allow your mind to expand and create. Robert Robert is an innovation/change speaker, author, and consultant. He works with companies that want to be more competitive through innovation and with people who want to think more creatively. Contact him via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Wilson Cont’d from page 20.
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