Coaching practices for How to Think Creatively
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For How to Think Creatively, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I sit down expecting something original to just arrive out of nowhere, and when the blank page stays blank I decide I’m not creative
- I need to come up with a whole range of options — names, angles, ways in — and staring at the blank page I keep circling the same two or three.
- My ideas always seem to land in the shower or on a walk, but I’ve started cramming a podcast into every one of those moments
- Every idea I have dies on the same words
- I stop brainstorming the moment I have a few decent ideas, satisfied too early
Practices that may help
- Steal, steal, then remix
Collect the best examples you can find, then combine and mutate them into something new.
Quantity Over Quality: How More Drafts Produce Better Work - Walk to generate ideas (divergent thinking)
When you need many options, walk while you brainstorm.
Walking for Creativity - Use low-demand movement as incubation time
Walking, showering, or doing dishes — rhythmic, low-demand activities free up associative thinking.
The Three Bs of Creativity: Bed, Bath, and Bus - Reframe constraints as creative inputs, not blockers
Treat every limitation as a design parameter that focuses rather than restricts creative output.
Creative Confidence, Made Practical - Maximize quantity of ideas before evaluating
Set an explicit quantity target — generate at least 20 ideas before reviewing any of them.
The Medici Effect: Innovation at the Intersection - Quantity first: generate the most ideas possible before evaluating any
The best way to have a good idea is to have many ideas — originality rises with volume, so generate recklessly before selecting.
The Beginner’s Mind in Creative Practice - Combinatorial Creativity, Made Practical
Arthur Koestler’s bisociation theory holds that creative breakthroughs emerge when two previously unconnected frames of reference collide and suddenly fit — not from blank-slate invention but from unexpected combination. The practical implication is that creative output depends heavily on the breadth and diversity of your input: you can only combine what you have already absorbed. - Choose low-agenda, high-curiosity destinations
Pick somewhere that interests your inner child, not somewhere impressive — curiosity, not accomplishment, is the fuel.
The Artist Date, Made Practical - Combine and build on others’ ideas
Treat every idea as a building block — the best ideas in a session are usually hybrids.
Osborn’s Brainstorming Rules, Made Practical - Walking for Creativity
Yes — experimental studies show that walking substantially boosts divergent thinking (generating many ideas), both while you walk and shortly after, whether indoors on a treadmill or outside. It’s one of the better-supported and lowest-cost ways to get unstuck on open-ended problems.
Related concerns
- How To Be More Creative
Collect the best examples you can find, then combine and mutate them into something new.
Steal, steal, then remix
- Creative Environment
Pick somewhere that interests your inner child, not somewhere impressive — curiosity, not accomplishment, is the fuel.
Choose low-agenda, high-curiosity destinations
- Creative Inspiration
Collect the best examples you can find, then combine and mutate them into something new.
- Creative Thinking
Walking, showering, or doing dishes — rhythmic, low-demand activities free up associative thinking.
Use low-demand movement as incubation time
- When To Be Creative
Pick somewhere that interests your inner child, not somewhere impressive — curiosity, not accomplishment, is the fuel.
- Broad Input Creativity
Collect the best examples you can find, then combine and mutate them into something new.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.