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Do a quick internet search of the best ways to boost creativity and you’ll find thousands of articles and posts bursting with suggestions.  Everyone, it seems, has a different approach to channeling creative thinking, but there are a few repeated pieces of advice that always come to the forefront. We read through some of our recent creativity posts on Twitter and compiled a list of the ten best ways to boost creativity. These are the pieces of advice that are commonly shared in creativity articles. Next time you get caught in a creative rut, try a few. You may just find one that works for you.

1) Increase your dopamine levels

According to a post on BufferSocial, relaxation makes us more creative. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter than enhances relaxation and creativity, is released when we do habitual tasks that make us feel good. Thus, when we take a warm shower or exercise, we not only give our mind a chance to wander, but we also increase our dopamine levels, enhancing our creative thinking.

2) Reminisce on good times

An article in Fast Company examined two experiments that showed that reminiscing on the past increases a person’s creativity. While nobody knows exactly why nostalgia is linked with creativity, one theory is that when people look back into the past, they access different information, giving them more material for creative thinking. Moreover, nostalgia combines dissimilar concepts, making us “contemplate past experiences in the context of today,” which further enhances creativity, the article said.

3) Take time to be alone

To truly express your creativity, you must be in touch with yourself. As stated by Scott Barry Kaufman in the Huffington Post, self-reflection is incredibly important in finding your inner creative voice. We must therefore embrace solitude. We must take the time to be completely alone, to let our minds wander and to reflect on ourselves.

Flickr user Rachel Joaquim

4) Clean up

Messes are hindering and distracting. As Jeff Goins of Goins, Writer said, mess creates stress, and a stressed mind hardly has time to be creative. One of the best ways to boost creativity is to clean up your work station. Clean out that email inbox. Wash the dirty dishes. File away loose papers. Give yourself plenty of space to think and work. Getting a clean start to the process will allow you to maximize your creativity.

5) Wake up with the sun

According to an article in the Guardian, waking up early—like, really early—has long aided in boosting creativity. Some of history’s most creative generic Tramadol minds, including Mozart and Frank Lloyd Wright, were early-morning risers, regularly waking up at 5 or 6 a.m. The early morning hours are a great time for creative and productive work, as it is a calm, quiet time, and the mind is refreshed. The early bird really does get the worm.

6) Overwhelm your brain

It may seem counterproductive, but as a BufferSocial post said, making tasks harder than they really are will “naturally engage more of your creative area than it normally would.” Try to solve new, difficult problems. The increased brain activity will boost your creativity and make future tasks and problems easier.

7) Seek new experiences

Openness to new experiences is an important characteristic of creative people. As explained in a Huffington Post article, exploring both the inner and outer world allows for a diversity of experiences. The more new sights, sounds, feelings, sensations and emotions we encounter, the more material we have to draw upon. This means taking risks and putting yourself in new, maybe uncomfortable situations. Staying open to the new and unknown greatly enhances creativity.

Flickr user Douglas Scortegagna

8) Fail—a lot

This goes hand-in-hand with seeking out the unknown. Trying something new won’t always work out, and failure is inevitable. But that’s not necessarily bad. Failure means you’re trying and learning new things. Failure shows that you are thinking and acting creatively. As stated in a post on Barking Up the Wrong Tree, creative people should “fail often, fail early, fail gloriously.”

9) Explain things to yourself and to others

Knowledge is power, and explaining things back to yourself and to others optimizes your knowledge, as  Art Markman explained in a Fast Company article. “The most creative people in any field are people who have a tremendous amount of knowledge,” he said. Being knowledgeable allows you to remain in the state of flow without having to look up specific information on the internet. By explaining concepts both to yourself and to others, you gain a deeper understanding of the concept, maximizing your knowledge and channeling your creativity.

10) Do what you love

One of the most important aspects of being creative is doing what you are passionate about. According to a Huffington Post article, creative people are typically intrinsically motivated. They do what they do because they love it—not because they are seeking an external reward. You won’t take risks and work tirelessly to solve problems if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing. Passion is key to creativity.