Journaling To Encourage Creativity And Out Of The Box Thinking
Humans are creatures of habit. Even for people who love change, change is a habit. It takes deliberate action to engage creativity and think outside of the box. Journaling is a great way to get creative and think out of the box.
Artist types have no problem using their favorite media to create. A painter paints, a writer writes, and a sculptor uses clay to express an inner idea outwardly. So what do you do when you want to stretch and grow outside your limits?
Journaling for personal creativity
Journaling is an excellent way to get your left and right sides of the brain talking to one another. Here are two great examples of using journaling to promote out-of-the-box thinking:
Mind mapping: Mind mapping is taking ideas and creating little bubbles representing each idea. They are their island set aside from any other ideas. From there, any idea attached to the topic is listed below the main subject. It repeatedly happens until the isolated issue is developed in minute detail. This out-of-the-box way of tackling and journaling a goal is great for visual people who prefer to think big rather than linear.
Prompting journals: One will not have to look very far on Amazon or their local bookstore to find journals designed to get you thinking out of the box through prompting. Are you regimented and need to cut loose? Try the book Wreck This Journal which will force you to draw outside the lines, smear things or otherwise create chaos and get things messy. Love to write but freeze up when itβs time to get to it? Find a journal that has writing cues and see where your imagination flows.
Journaling for business
Businesses can use a form of journaling to get the team thinking out of the box. Sometimes staff becomes complacent or underwhelmed. Getting together as a team to create solutions can be an effective way to raise morale.
Guided journaling: A trainer or facilitator can run staff through a unique exercise stretching out of their comfort zone to drill down the best solution to their biggest problems or encourage free-flowing thoughts and suggestions for a strategic plan. During the project, team members can use journaling to keep track of their progress, create learning tools or express themselves.
The next time you feel stuck and want to challenge yourself or your staff to think bigger and higher, consider journaling as an opportunity to expand your mind and come up with out-of-the-box ideas.
Until next time, stay safe, and keep the faith.
