The Most Unproductive Friday of the Year
Why not fool your bosses (or yourselves) into thinking you're doing something of actual importance by looking all pensive and reading through my Top 10 list of creative thinking exercises from 2024.
I see you, pretending to look like you're concentrating hard on something when you're actually just trying to clear another row on Fruit Candy Smash Farm Bonanza... or whatever you crazy kids are playing these days.
It’s safe to say that most Fridays are unproductive… but this one, HA! Imagine the entire economy smoked a tonne of weed, lay face-first into a ketchup stained Wayfair Bean Bag, and watched “Dude, Where’s My Car?” on endless repeat. That’s kind of how today works.
So please don’t actually read this email today, but put it aside for when you come back to life in January and want to kick your brain into serious gear, as I breakdown my favourite creative thinking techniques that I’ve shared on this here newsletter over the course of 2024. Let’s gooooooooooooooooo!
10. Alphabetty Regretty
For a quick cerebral workout, (when you need to start generating ideas with a word map) try to think of one word or concept for each letter of the alphabet related to your project. It’s an interesting way of sparking ideas and get your mind thinking differently.
09. Chuck in a Curveball
Sometimes, giving yourself a load of freedom on a personal creative project can be a mistake. The possibilities are far too endless and you become paralysed with choice. That’s when you need a fictional friend to come along and chuck you a little curveball to shake things up.
Whenever this highly specific scenario enters you life, click here.
08. Opposite Day
Take a current project or problem and once you’ve exhausted every way of approaching it in a conventional sense, ask yourself, “What would happen if I now did the exact opposite?” Everything you’ve just thought of, do the complete polar and ridiculous opposite. This technique can help you break out of a creative rut and see your situation from an entirely different perspective.
07. No Constraints
Set a timer for 5 minutes and ask yourself: “If there were absolutely no budget or time constraints, what would I create?” Write down everything, no matter how utterly bonkers it is. This technique can reveal hidden solutions when the “rules” are taken away. We don’t like rules around these parts. It can also reveal troubling issues around your own psychotic thoughts, but those aren’t my problems, they’re yours.
06. Create your thievery list
When’s the last time you looked at a really great idea and thought to yourself “Why didn’t I think of that?”. We all do it, some more frequently than others. But here’s how to turn those irritating moments into future inspiration.
05. 50 Bad Ideas
Instead of aiming for good ideas, list 50 terrible ones. This often leads to a surprisingly brilliant idea hiding among the nonsense. And even if it doesn’t, the goal was to create bad ideas so you can’t really lose.
04. Parkinson’s Law
Not so much a thinking technique this one, more of a time management sort of thing. But the single biggest change I’ve ever made to significantly improve my creativity and my own mental health.
I explain it in here if you want to learn a wee bit more.
03. Evil Brainstorming
This is still my absolute favourite technique for engaging a team in creative brainstorming. Allow everyone in the room to be an absolute wrong’un for an afternoon and you’ll be amazed how everyone starts to contribute.
Learn the benefits of the dark side in here.
02. Play Your Cards Right
This is a little card game I devised that helps you smash together a creative thinking exercise with a wordplay technique. I am genuinely pleased with some of the wonderful tripe this thing has helped me come up with so if you fancy giving it a go, here is a guide on how to get started.
01. Ten Ideas a Day
I bang on about this one a lot, but that’s because I really do believe it to be the most effective way you can get better at generating ideas. It’s a tiny wee tweak you can make to your daily routine that can MASSIVELY improve your ability to connect very odd and interesting dots in the future. I waffle on about it in more detail in here.
So that’s it…
The end of another (insert your most relevant adjective) year. And at a time when purse strings are being aggressively tightened and AI is delivering as many exciting changes to our jobs/lives as it is infinitely terrifying ones, I truly believe that there has never been a more important time than now to become the best thinker in the room.
It’s my job to help you become that person. So along with these newsletters and a few other bits and bobs I’ll be launching in the new year, I’m looking forward to sharing a whole load of new creative thinking tips and quips in 2025.
Whatever you’re doing with your time over the next week or two, I hope you manage to fit in a whole heap of relaxing, a barrel load of giggles, and belly full of deliciousness.
Catch you soon, Snugsters ✌️