In the blog of creativity-building exercises by Phil McKinney that I found, I tried out a handful of strategies to see if they would be beneficial. The first exercise was to take a walk outside. McKinney (2022) encourages us to think about how creativity can be linked back to nature and found everywhere. I took a walk during lunch with colleagues. We walked around the building, around the soccer field, and passed the mall by our school. It was a mix of wildlife and urban scenery. I felt more relaxed and inspired when we were walking by the park area but by the time we got to the main road, my attention was focused more on watching for traffic and the students that recognized their teachers outside of school. If I had the opportunity, I would like to take another creative walk in the more quiet and scenic parts of the park behind our school, because I could see inspiration striking if conducted in the right environment.
The next exercise I tried was to, “write a list of things that annoy you.” McKinney (2022) states that by doing this, you can begin to see patterns and common themes, which will in turn, help you come up with new ways to solve problems. Some of the things on my list were, lost prep time, the commute to and from work, and the cost of rent. This exercise proved to be unhelpful to me as I journal daily, already observe these issues, and note how so much of it is out of my control. I find that journaling helps me channel my thoughts, but I rarely have time to do it these days which turns into somewhat of a spiraling cycle where I feel pressed for time.
The third exercise I attempted was combining two similar strategies, exercising my brain with a puzzle and playing a game that required creativity. For this, I completed a wordsearch from the weekly newspaper and played a few rounds of the video game Tetris. McKinney (2022) wrote that by trying these activities, it may “break out any ruts you might be in.” I observed that I felt a sense of accomplishment once I finished the word search. I also had not played Tetris since my undergraduate days and the website had saved my score from four years ago. I completed three rounds of the game and beat my high scores by nearly double. Perhaps two years of graduate school and the full-development of my prefrontal cortex is the reason behind this. However, I have always been hesitant about games because I find that they can be too-good of a distraction from my work. In small doses, I could see puzzles and games being helpful creativity-building exercises.
Finally, the last strategy I tried was to make crafts out of old materials. This idea was the most enjoyable of all the ones I tried. I created these stained glass butterflies from an old craft kit I had as a child. After using stained glass paint that you squeeze onto the plastic butterfly design, you attach the front and the back of the butterfly with beads and a suction cup. I made two which I then stuck onto my classroom windows next to my plants. Similar to the puzzle strategy, I felt better after making the time to be creative, and it made me want to partake in creative activities like this on a more regular basis. It was a low-stakes activity where I did not feel pressured to make something good but allowed creativity to flow naturally.
References
McKinney, P. (2022, January 30). 10 exercises that will improve your creativity. Innovation.Tools. https://innovation.tools/blogs/innovation-blog/10-exercises-that-will-improve-your-creativity
Herstmonceux Castle, United Kingston, August 2019
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