World of Psychology
15 Ten-Minute Activities To Jump-Start Your Creativity
That’s because creativity is a practice. It’s magical in many ways. But the magic requires a trained magician.
Here are 15 fun activities you can do in 10 minutes to jump-start your creativity and inspire your imagination.
1. Go on a photo safari.
“Grab your camera — any will do, even your smart phone! — and take yourself out for a 10-minute walk around the block,” said Susannah Conway, a writer, photographer and author of the book This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart.
“Photograph all the red, yellow and green things you see.” Focus on the little details. You might find these colors on the ground, in windows or on people, she said. “Look up as well as down. Get closer. Think of your camera as a tool to help focus your attention on the here and now.”
You also can pretend “you’re taking pictures for Vogue or the Museum of Modern Art,” said Zohar Tirosh-Polk, a playwright and creativity coach who recently wrote the award-winning play “SIX.” “It will help you to see ordinary things in a new light.”
2. Do housework.
Housework might sound like a strange suggestion, said full-time painter Karine Swenson. But creativity can flourish in the mundane. She noted that “it should be something quiet that doesn’t take too much thought,” such as “sweeping, folding laundry or dusting.”
3. Cook.
“Try a new recipe, make a new smoothie [or] bake some cookies. It will get your creative juices going, and it will taste good too,” Tirosh-Polk said.
4. Make a small collage.
Page through your favorite magazines and pick several pictures that resonate with you, Tirosh-Polk said. Cut them to create a collage. It can be small enough to fit into your journal. Each collage also can have a theme, she said, such as “Things in Red,” “Urban sparkle,” or “Spring.” Or it can be “your vision for your dream home, job [or] trip.”
5. Daydream.
Simply stare out the window, and let your mind wander. “I have read that when our minds are in a relaxed state, the subconscious will take over. If you believe, as Jackson Pollock and many of the surrealists did, that art comes from the subconscious, then you may wish to try this,” Swenson said
6. Create a list.
“Create a playlist like you’re the hottest DJ in town, a reading list like you’re the New York Times, a destination list, or a menu for yourself or someone else,” Tirosh-Polk said.
7. Check out your go-to inspiration.
What books, songs and videos inspire you? For instance, Michelle Ward, a creative career coach and speaker, suggested doing exercises from Keri Smith’s books, listening to Ukulele Anthem by Amanda Palmer and getting a pep talk from Kid President.
8. Socialize.
“It doesn’t have to be a conversation about art or creativity. Sometimes the most random comment from small talk will stick with you and spark a new idea,” Swenson said.
9. Draw.
“Break out the crayons and draw for 10 minutes, like you’re Picasso, or you know, Pollock,” Tirosh-Polk said.
10. Play.
Try an activity you used to love as a child. “Ten minutes in a swing works wonders,” Swenson said.
11. People-watch.
Tirosh-Polk suggested sitting on a bench for 10 minutes and observing others. Pay particular attention to their conversations. Write down whatever you pick up, she said.
12. Find a quiet spot.
“If at all possible, find a place away from the bustle of humanity,” Swenson said. This might be a park, the seaside or a quiet path, she said. But leave your iPod at home.
Instead, “plug your ears to the sounds of the world around you. Immerse all of your senses in this experience…and just be.”
13. Problem-solve with your dream advisory board.
Justine Musk, a novelist and writer, suggested creating a dream advisory board of five people. This could be anyone you admire, “dead or alive, famous or not famous.” Consider a recent problem, “whether it’s personal or professional or artistic.” Then turn it into a question.
“One by one, write a letter to yourself from each member of your board, seeing the problem from each member’s perspective. How would each person advise you to solve it? What would each member want you to do, think about or know?”
14. Create a collection of prompts.
“Write a list of writing topics or drawing subjects, each on small, individual pieces of paper,” said Christine Mason Miller, a mixed-media artist and author of the book Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World.
Then put these pieces of paper into a bowl or jar. “Anytime you need a 10-minute creative time-out, draw one of your prompts from the jar and give yourself 10 minutes to go for it!”
15. Just start.
Give yourself “full permission to be as bad or messy as you need,” said Ward, co-author of the book The Declaration of You. It could be the “cheesiest, most horrible thing ever,“ Tirosh-Polk said. The product doesn’t matter. The key is to start.
“The only thing that could be ‘wrong’ when it comes to being creative is to not do anything at all,” Ward said.
Psych Central News
No Link Found Between ADHD Drugs, Future Substance Abuse
But do ADHD meds contribute to the risk?
In the most comprehensive research ever on this topic, UCLA psychologists found that children with ADHD who take medications such as Ritalin and Adderall are at no greater risk of using alcohol, marijuana, nicotine or cocaine later in life than kids with ADHD who don’t take these medications.
The researchers looked at 15 long-term studies, including data from three studies not yet published. The studies followed more than 2,500 children with ADHD from childhood into their teen and young adult years.
“We found the children were neither more likely nor less likely to develop alcohol and substance-use disorders as a result of being treated with stimulant medication,” said Kathryn Humphreys, a doctoral candidate in UCLA’s Department of Psychology and lead author of the study. “We found no association between the use of medication such as Ritalin and future abuse of alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and cocaine.”
The children had a mean age of 8 years old when the research began and 20 at the most recent follow-up assessments. They came from a broad geographical range, including California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Germany and Canada.
“For parents whose major concern about Ritalin and Adderall is about the future risk for substance abuse, this study may be helpful to them,” Humphreys said.
“We found that on average, their child is at no more or less at risk for later substance dependence. This does not apply to every child but does apply on average. However, later substance use is usually not the only factor parents think about when they are choosing treatment for their child’s ADHD.”
The researchers report that children with ADHD are two to three times more likely than children without the disorder to develop serious substance-abuse problems in adolescence and adulthood, including the use of nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and other drugs.
This new study does not oppose those results but finds that, on average, children who take stimulant medication for ADHD are not at additional risk for future substance abuse.
Ritalin is associated with certain side effects, such as suppressing appetite, disrupting sleep and changes in weight, said Steve S. Lee, a UCLA associate professor of psychology and senior author of the study.
“The majority of children with ADHD—at least two-thirds—show significant problems academically, in social relationships, and with anxiety and depression when you follow them into adolescence,” Lee said.
“For any particular child, parents should consult with the prescribing physician about potential side effects and long-term risks,” said Lee.
“Saying that all parents need not be concerned about the use of stimulant medication for their children is an overstatement; parents should have the conversation with the physician. As with other medications, there are potential side effects, and the patient should be carefully evaluated to, for example, determine the proper dosage.”
As the study participants get older, researchers will be able to study the rate at which they graduate from college, get married, have children and/or get divorced and to assess how well they function, Humphreys said.
As children with ADHD enter adolescence and adulthood, they typically fall into one of three groups of similar size, Lee said: one-third will have significant problems in school and socially; one-third will have moderate impairment; and one-third will exhibit only mild impairment.
The research is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, a psychiatry research journal published by the American Medical Association.
Source: JAMA Psychiatry
Word collage of ADHD brain photo by shutterstock.
Separating Rewards Into Categories Increases Motivation
Even if the rewards are similar and the categories arbitrary, the very act of segmenting them motivates people to perform better and longer, even on menial tasks, according to Scott S. Wiltermuth, Ph.D., an assistant professor of management and organization at the University of California’s Marshall School of Business.
The study found that people were more motivated by getting one reward from one category and an additional reward from a separate category than by choosing two rewards from a pool that included all rewards.
People worked longer when potential rewards were separated into categories regardless of the reward’s value, the researchers found.
The researchers speculate that categorizing the rewards had positive effects on motivation by increasing the degree to which participants felt they would “miss out” if they did not obtain a second reward.
In a series of six experiments, participants were asked to do mundane tasks for either 10- or 20-minute increments for a set number of rewards. The rewards were items from a dollar store.
In the first experiment, participants were told that if they transcribed copy for 10 minutes they could take home one item and if they worked for 20 minutes they could take two items. The first group was told they could take two items from either bin, while another group was told they could take one item from one bin and, if they worked longer, a second item from the second bin.
The researchers found that while only 10 percent of those who could take items from either bin transcribed for 20 minutes, 34 percent of the group whose prizes were from segmented categories did so.
Mentally separating these perks into bins or categories increased participants’ time commitment to the task by playing into their desires to minimize the risk of “missing out,” according to the researchers.
In an experiment to test the “missing out” theory, the researchers again offered rewards from two bins, but there were four bins full of rewards.
When four bins were present, telling participants that they could select one item from one category and another from a second category did not improve motivation, according to the researchers. That’s because participants were not as excited by obtaining the second reward because there were still two more categories or bins that remained inaccessible.
“It was really the desire to eliminate the fear of missing out that led people to work hard when there were two different categories,” said Wiltermuth.
“If they couldn’t eliminate the fear of missing out, which would be the case when they had more categories of items, they didn’t work very hard. They were at levels comparable to the single category.”
The big takeaway from the study, according to Wiltermuth: “Instead of presenting one big reward, set up a few small rewards. Even if they’re not all that different, making people think they are different can get people to devote increased effort in pursuit of those goals.”
The study, co-authored with Francesca Gino, Ph.D., associate professor of business administration at Harvard University, was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Source: USC Marshall School of Business
Checklist being marked off photo by shutterstock.
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