10 Mental Blocks of Creative Thinking

psych-facts:

1. Trying to Find the “Right” Answer

One of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on the correct answer to a particular question or problem. While this approach helps us function in society, it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are ambiguous. There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first.

Many of the following mental blocks can be turned around to reveal ways to find more than one answer to any given problem. Try reframing the issue in several different ways in order to prompt different answers, and embrace answering inherently ambiguous questions in several different ways.


2. Logical Thinking

Not only is real life ambiguous, it’s often illogical to the point of madness. While critical thinking skills based on logic are one of our main strengths in evaluating the feasibility of a creative idea, it’s often the enemy of truly innovative thoughts in the first place.

One of the best ways to escape the constraints of your own logical mind is to think metaphorically. One of the reasons why metaphors work so well in communications is that we accept them as true without thinking about it. When you realize that “truth” is often symbolic, you’ll often find that you are actually free to come up with alternatives.

3. Following Rules

One way to view creative thinking is to look at it as a destructive force. You’re tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others have set for you, and asking either “why” or “why not” whenever confronted with the way “everyone” does things.

This is easier said than done, since people will often defend the rules they follow even in theface of evidence that the rule doesn’t work. People love to celebrate rebels like Richard Branson, but few seem brave enough to emulate him. Quit worshipping rule breakers and start breaking some rules.

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Heading to my blood donation appointment. Hoping my pulse isn’t too high again! Skipped Kenpo X to be safe.

(Source: healthylivingforyou)

Cross-Train Your Brain to Stave Off Dementia

All you need to do is switch things up!

  • Eat food with your non-dominant hand
  • Write a word backwards
  • Swap the hand you use when you brush your hair

This really works! Surgeons like Dr. Oz actually train by shaving with the opposite hand each morning!

(Source: healthylivingforyou)

17 Tips To Help You Remember Things Better

  1. Understand thoroughly what is to be remembered and/or memorized
  2. Spot what is to be memorized verbatim. It is a good plan to use a special marking symbol in text and notebook to indicate parts and passages, rules, data, and all other information that is to be memorized instead of just understood and remembered
  3. If verbatim memory is required, go over the material or try to repeat at odd times.
  4. Think about what you are trying to learn. Find an interest in the material if you wish to memorize it with ease.
  5. Study first the items that you want to remember longest.
  6. Learn complete units at one time, as that is the way it will have to be recalled.
  7. Overlearn to make certain.
  8. Analyze material and strive to intensify the impressions the material makes.
  9. Use concrete imagery whenever possible. Close your eyes and get a picture of the explanation and summary answer. Try to see it on the page. See the key words underlined.
  10. Make your own applications, examples, and illustrations.
  11. Reduce the material to be remembered to your own self-made system or series of numbered steps.
  12. Represent the idea graphically by use of pictorial or diagrammatic forms.
  13. Make a list of key words most useful in explaining the idea or content of the lesson.
  14. Form a variety of associations among the points you wish to remember. The richer the associations, the better the memory.
  15. Try making the idea clear to a friend without referring to your book or notes.
  16. Actually write out examination questions on the material you think you might get at the end of the term. Then write the answers to your own questions. Since you now have the chance, consult the text or your notes to improve your answers.
  17. Follow suggestions for reviewing. This is an important part of remembering.

(Source: healthylivingforyou)

5 Reasons to Go to Bed an Hour Earlier

  1. It improves your memory. Your brain makes sense of all that you did and learned throughout the day while you’re sleeping.
  2. It helps regulate your weight. Sleep deprivation causes poor regulation of the hormones that control your appetite. Sleep is also the ever important fasting period of the day— if you’re staying up late and snacking you’re going to eat more than you would if you just went to bed earlier before you even got a craving!
  3. It can decrease your risk of diabetes. Studies have shown that sleep disorders or sleep deprivation increases your risk of developing diabetes.
  4. Prevents disease. Sleep deprivation decrease immune function. It actually includes the activity of the killer cells that cause disease, and inhibits them from doing their job. Killer cells work by injecting cells infected with viruses with small cytoplasmic granules of proteins that target the cell in order for it to be killed off.
  5. It can increase your life expectancy. Those who sleep 6-8 hours a night live longer than those who sleep more than 8 hours or less that 6 every night.

(Source: healthylivingforyou)

inspiredbystruggle asked:
what does taking flaxseed oil help you with?

Flaxseed oil serves a similar purpose to fish oil, to provide the body with omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids can do a wide variety of things for your health such as appetite suppression, inhibit cancer, and prevent heart disease, but it is most widely known for it’s positive effects on brain function and mood.

I love my brain, to put it simply. But healthy fat is good for more than the nerves in your brain. It can also help with athletics. After all, your muscles work because of your nerves. Although, I have heard that flaxseed oil is not quite as effective as fish oil. I would try fish oil instead, but my mom bought flaxseed oil haha.


fortheloveoffit:

Why we need more sleep:

 

  1. You’ll eat more. 300 calories more, to be precise. A recent study found that sleep-deprived subjects, when allowed to eat whatever they wanted, ate more than when they had a full-night’s sleep, even though they stuck to their normal eating schedule.
  2. You may not live as long. Researchers may have found the secret to long life — a study found that women who slept fewer than five hours a night were less likely to live as long as those who got more.
  3. You’ll weigh more. Logically, if you are regularly consuming more calories every day it stands to reason you may weigh more, but the weight gain is not only caused by what you consume. Not enough sleep also causes stress on the body, which triggers it to slow metabolism and store fat.
  1. It shrinks your brain. Researchers found that chronic insomniacs had smaller, less-dense brains, which affected crucial parts of their neurological systems like decision-making.
  2. It raises your blood pressure. A study found that adults who missed an hour of sleep each night for five years ended up increasing their risk for hypertension by almost 40 percent.
  3. It increases your risk of getting sick. Not enough shut-eye has been proven to leave people susceptible to cold viruses.
  4. It can worsen your memory. Ever feel like you can’t remember your to-dos after a night of tossing and turning? Those REM waves we experience at the beginning of a sleep cycle can boost memory and creativity, so if you’ve underslept the night before, try a quick power nap to recoup some of your memory skills.
  5. You’ll skip your workouts. Lack of sleep means lack of energy, which probably means lack of gym time. In fact, research has shown that sleep deprivation is a key reason why people stay inactive.
  6. It makes you cranky. Or, as researchers say, more “primitive.” Without sleep we revert back to a more primal version of ourselves, meaning we can’t appropriately cope with emotions or respond maturely to situations.
  7. You’re not on your game. On top of all these consequences, not enough sleep just makes us feel, well, blah. We’ve all found ourselves reacting less quickly after a sleepless night, not to mention foggy-headed, so if you need to catch more z’s, check out some of oureating and exercise tips to help you sleep soundly.

fuckyeahneuroscience:

Neuroanatomy—A Primer By Kayt Sukel

The human brain is a unique structure that boasts a complex three-dimensional architecture. Neuroscientists are only beginning to understand how the different parts of this intricate configuration work together to produce behavior. In the numerous neuroimaging studies that are published weekly, researchers use common neuroanatomical terms to denote location, organization, and, at times, implied function. Though a complete discussion of neuroanatomy is worthy of a thick textbook full of elaborate illustrations, common terminology used in neuroscientific research is highlighted below.

Click the photo to read more!

(Source: inspiteofthetribe)

7 Ways to Improve The Way We Think

  1. Create more time. We all feel like there’s never enough time for anything, let alone reading.
  2. Read more, but especially, “cross-read”. Read things you wouldn’t normally read. By doing so you create more neural pathways in the brain which actually increased intelligence.
  3. Do puzzles. Training your brain and giving yourself challenges keeps your brain sharp and can prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
  4. Exercise. It’s been shown that people who do resistance exercises 2 to 3 times a week may be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, also.
  5. Lay off the TV… And Tumblr. There are so many more things we could be doing out there that are so much more beneficial to our well-being than sitting on the couch staring at a screen. Not only can it effect your brain in a negative way, but it can also cause eye strain.
  6. Eat healthy fats. Foods like avocados, oils, nuts… Especially walnuts, are great for neurological health.
  7. Go outside of your comfort zone and try something new. Every new experience creates more connections in your brain, and more connections means more intelligence. So set some new goals for yourself!

(Source: healthylivingforyou)

Motivation? Starts here.

Good attitude? Starts here.

Negative Body Image? Starts Ends here.

You have the power to lead a healthy life. You just need to use it.

How Exercise Can Keep the Brain Fit

(Source: someroomtorun)

Tips on Improving Memory

  • Get Regular Exercise. Even walking will be beneficial to your brain! It improves blood circulation, which helps transport oxygen to your brain. Oxygen is necessary for proper brain function, and can help to clear your mind.
  • Reduce Stress. According to certain studies, stress does not physically harm your brain, but it can make it difficult to remember things.
  • Listen To Music Whenever Possible. Especially classical! Research shows that listening to classical music can help improve the storage and recall of information.

(Source: healthylivingforyou)

When My Sexy Is Right: Consider your brain a muscle

tribander:

You must exercise it. No, I don’t mean playing word games or doing the daily crossword…although really you should, but I digress.

I’m actually talking about expanding your self-perception.

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk that even after immense amounts of weight lose,…

A very interesting read about altering how you see yourself into a positive way.