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Apr 7, 2024 · Learn the idiom "think outside the box" and see examples of how to use it in a sentence. Find out the origin, synonyms, and related words of this phrase.
Mar 2, 2022 · The author challenges us to question the unwritten rules that uphold power and privilege for a select few, and to imagine new possibilities beyond the colonial imagination. She gives examples of how to rewrite the rules of clothing, weekends, and burqas and niqabs.
- Overview
- Coming Up with Creative Solutions
- Maintaining Your Creativity Long-Term
- Connecting With Other People Creatively
So you've been asked to think outside of the box for work, or you really want a creative idea for your new novel? Not to worry! Thinking outside the box, like any skill, is one that can be developed through practice. To get started developing your creative thinking skills, see step 1.
It's important to get away from all the typical routines in order to foster creativity. The idea of changing it up is a common one amongst successful and creative thinkers. This means that you either create a specific ritual around creativity, or that you simply find a way to take a break.
There is something weirdly conducive about showering, as anyone who's had that amazing idea while stuck in the shower (only to forget it when you finally locate a pen and paper). If you're stuck on an idea, hop in the shower, with a pen and some paper handy and see what comes up.
The thing that will hold you back from thinking outside the box more than anything else is negativity. Consistently telling yourself that you can't think creatively or vetoing every idea as too "out there" is going to severely limit what you come up with.
Consider what it is that you tell yourself about your ideas. When you come up with that amazing book idea do you immediately think "I could never write that?" That is a surefire what to ensure that you never do write that.
Whenever you find yourself responding negatively to your ideas, replace the negative thought with a positive or neutral thought. For example: if you found yourself thinking "I'm never going to be able to entice advertisers with these incentives" stop yourself and say "I'm going to test out how these incentives work to get us better advertising faithfulness."
Like any skill, creativity needs to be exercised to keep it going. Even when you don't have a particular problem that needs your creative solution, keep working on your creativity. It will help you when you are suddenly confronted with something that needs thinking outside the box.
Surround yourself with creative people.
Humans are social animals. You'll be inspired when other people are inspired. The creativity will remain high when you work or befriend people who inspire that creativity in you and in your work.
You find it especially helpful if you befriend people who aren't in the same field that you are. These people can give you perspective on your work that you wouldn't get from someone who is saturated in the same ideas that you are.
This is another reason why it's so important to do things outside of your comfort zone. That is where you'll meet people who challenge and inspire creativity in you, people who think differently from you.
Pay attention to other people’s ideas.
Ideas don't exist in a vacuum. Even creative thinkers like Salvador Dali (as an example) started with ideas in his painting that he'd gotten from earlier sources. Paying attention to other people's ideas will help foster your own.
Thinking outside the box (also thinking out of the box or thinking beyond the box and, especially in Australia, thinking outside the square) is an idiom that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. The phrase also often refers to novel or creative thinking.
Dec 8, 2022 · Learn what it means to think outside the box, a phrase that encourages creative and unconventional thinking. Discover the origin of the metaphor, how to use it in different contexts, and related expressions.
Apr 28, 2021 · Of American-English origin, the phrase outside the box means outside or beyond the realm of normal practice or conventional thinking. It is chiefly used in to think outside the box, meaning to think creatively or in an unconventional manner.
May 16, 2019 · Learn how to challenge your habits, assumptions, and routines to come up with fresh and innovative ideas. Discover 10 simple ways to push yourself to think outside the box, from asking a child what they would do to taking a walk.
