If there were a pill to make you more creative, would you take it?

What if I told you there were no side effects, no possible risk of overdose, and it was free?  

According to Jonathan Haidt in “The Happiness Hypothesis”, that pill exists. It’s called Meditation, and there are large bodies of research to back this up.

I know what you might be thinking:

• “But meditation doesn’t work for me”
• “It’s sooo boring…”
• “my mind doesn’t stay quiet for more than a second or two”
• “meditation is for new age hippies, celibate monks, and weirdos!”
• “I don’t have the time to sit for hours on a mountaintop”
• “I can’t even sit cross legged, let alone get into Full Lotus Pose for meditation”

Not to worry.  None of those things are necessary.

I’m going to share three different meditation based mind hacks for you to try. No past experience with meditation is necessary, yet they’re powerful enough to be of use to experienced meditators. Try all three and let me know which one you like best.

1. The Whiteboard visualization

You can do this mind hack anytime, anywhere, for any duration, and no need to close your eyes, although feel free to close them if it’s safe to do so.

Step 1:

Imagine a large, clean, bright, whiteboard. You could imagine it in front of you, or inside your mind, or in some other setting that makes the most sense to you.

Step 2:

Every time a thought or feeling bubbles up in your mind, imagine that it is being drawn or written on the whiteboard.

Step 3:

And, right away, imagine taking a whiteboard eraser, and erasing the thought or feeling off the whiteboard.

The next thought or feeling that shows up, imagine it appearing on the whiteboard, and again, erasing it off the whiteboard right away.

When I do this for a couple of minutes I notice that as I erase each thought off the whiteboard, it helps me to stop thinking those thoughts. And as I continue to erase each thought, my mind naturally begins to quieten down.

Eventually, there aren’t many thoughts bubbling up at all, and here is where it gets REALLY interesting. In this quieter state, when a thought does show up, it tends to have much more meaning. Either it’s a novel new insight, a creative, fun idea, or a deeper understanding on existing ideas or problems. And it’s usually so interesting that I want to stop what I’m doing and write it down, or capture it using a voice recorder (I use the “Voice Recorder HD” app on my iphone).

Attribution:

“The Whiteboard Visualization” from “The Abundance Paradigm” by Joe Vitale

2. Leaves on a Stream visualization

Step 1:

Get comfortable. This mind hack is best done seated or lying down in a quiet environment with your eyes closed.

Step 2:

Imagine a stream flowing across your field of vision. Spend a little time imagining what it would look and sound like. How fast is the water moving? Which direction is it flowing? Can you hear it?

Step 3:

Whenever a thought or feeling bubbles up in your mind. Imagine placing that thought on a leaf, and let it float away on the stream. The idea isn’t to purge that thought from your mind forever, rather it is to gradually let the thought fade away. The further the leaf floats away on the stream, the further that thought will be from your focus.

As you practice this mind hack you will find that thoughts intrude less and less frequently. And now when a thought does intrude, it will tend to be deeper, more insightful and creative.

You can “gamify” this technique with another (bonus) mind hack called “Concentration Points”.  Keep a count of the number of leafs used to float your thoughts away. At the end of your session, make a note of how many in a journal. You get 1 concentration point for each leaf. More points are better, since it means you’re noticing when you get distracted by a thought, rather than going off down some rabbit-hole without even realizing it.

Attributions:

“Leaves of a Stream” from “The Confidence Gap” book by Russ Harris. “Concentration Points” from the “Mind Hacking” book by Sir John Hargrave.

3. Diffusion Break

Despite the name, this mind hack is the most focussed of the three for solving specific problems or encouraging creativity in a particular field.

Step 1:

Take 1-2 minutes to write down details of a particular problem or creative project where you want more insight and inspiration.

Step 2:

Take a 15-20 minute “diffusion” break.  During this time you can perform any activity that encourages diffused thinking, the mode of thinking where you aren’t focussed on anything specific, allowing your subconscious mind to work on the problem you just gave it.  

Good activities are routine and don’t require much concentration. For example, taking a walk or an easy paced run (preferably in nature), washing the dishes by hand, taking a shower, weeding your yard, taking a nap, folding the laundry.

Bad activities include anything that grabs your attention, requiring you to focus or plan. For example, reading, watching TV, surfing the net, gaming, listening to music, any high intensity or fast paced exercise/sport, etc.

Step 3:

Get back to working on the original problem or project you described in step 1.  You may have already gained new insights, inspiration and motivation during step 2, but even if you haven’t, make a start anyway. Within a few minutes new and creative ideas will come to you.

I’ve used this mind hack many times. It’s helped me dream up new lyrics and melodies for a song when I’m in the shower, I’ve figured out the solutions to complex network engineering problems whilst taking a nap, and I’ve kickstarted the graphic design for a new iphone app whilst washing the dishes.

Attribution:

I read about this technique years ago on a blog. I can remember the technique, but I have failed totally at remembering the original source. If anyone knows who/what/where this came from I’ll update my post with the correct attribution.

Will you try the pill?

So, those are my three “go to” mind hacks if I need an injection of creativity into my day. Are you willing to “take the pill” and try them out? If yes, great! If not, Why not?  

Why not try all three and let me know how they work for you. Also, if you have your own trusted hack to boost creativity, I’d love to hear about it.

Resources

1. The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation audiobook by Joe Vitale.
2. The Confidence Gap: A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt by Russ Harris.
3. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt.
4. Mind Hacking: How to Change Your Mind for Good in 21 Days by Sir John Hargrave.
5. Voice Recorder HD App for iphone and android that kicks ass.