Doing this every day can increase your creativity

Creativity is a very elusive thing, but required for most things in life. Whether you work in an office or are an artist, creativity makes your work more fulfilling and allows you to complete tasks in more imaginative ways. According to a study, this can also be easily cultivated, for example by taking a walk or exercising.

The study, published in Scientific Reports and conducted by researchers at Graf University, found links between physical activity and imagination. Researchers found that active people can come up with more and better ideas in ideation tests compared to sedentary people.

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The study tracked the routines of 79 adults while measuring their creativity to find points where these two factors correspond. Participants wore activity trackers and after five days were asked to visit a lab to complete various creative tasks, such as finding new uses for car tires and umbrellas and making partial drawings. These people were also asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing their mood.

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When cross-checking and analyzing this data, the researchers found that the more active people were, the more creative they were in performing their tasks. These results were unrelated to mood — The links were based solely on activity level and creative output.

Physical activity has historically changed the way we think, which is reflected in studies of animals and humans. Exercise increases blood flow, oxygenates our brain, and supplies it with nutrients and blood that promote cell growth. There’s a reason why people suggest walks when they feel stuck at work or frustrated about a problem.

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When it comes to creativity, the science is much more sparse. This term has always had an aura of mystery as it was very abstract and difficult to quantify in scientific studies. Research like this provides more background and information on terms like creativity that are associated with certain types of people.

Creativity is something we all possess and can cultivate and use to our advantage, whether we’re writing a novel or entering numbers on a spreadsheet.