Creativity and Innovation: Why are they Important?

Dear Diary,

Creativity is an act of perceiving the world in different ways.

On World Creativity and Innovation Day, we celebrate creativity by understanding a few things.

Why are we talking about it?

The United Nations designated April 21 as World Creativity and Innovation Day.

UN uses creativity and innovation to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the betterment of society. This year’s theme is collaboration.

The theme relates to Sustainable Goal #16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. The day is designated to promote a society where:

• Sustainable development is used for peaceful inclusion

• There is the accessibility of justice

• There are effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions

• Inclusive collaboration from all people benefits families both locally and internationally

• Ensuring sustainability and accessibility of collaborative practices is for the international community

What is creativity?

One definition of creativity is that it is a combination involving critical thinking about an issue or object and producing an alternative to it. It is the ability to transcend the existing thinking or idea and create an alternative or original idea, methodology or object.

A person is said to be creative when they view things from different perspectives. A test of creativity depends on:

• The number of unique alternatives produced

• The ability to implement them

• The flexibility of tolerance the outcome

• Enjoyment of things that come in the process

Why is creativity important?

Creativity allows us to view the problems within the social system and help solving them with innovation. It helps us broaden our perspectives and help us overcome prejudices.
Some of the ways creativity helps us are:

• It inspires collective thinking

• It nurtures ideas

• Creativity enables empathy

• Enabling alternative thinking methods

• It challenges the biases in the society

• It builds inter-cultural connections

• It nurtures confidence

• It nurtures a sense of togetherness

• It helps build teamwork and cooperation

How to overcome the mental blocks?

Mental blocks act as a barrier to our way of creativity and motivation and affect our productivity. There are many reasons listed by Harvard Health Letter which affect our ability to think clearly. They are:

• Sleep deprivation

• Lack of exercise

• Unhealthy diet

• Stress, anxiety, or depression

• Decrease in B12 levels

• Imbalance of thyroid hormones

Here are some helpful tips to work your way through mental blockages:

• Start with small tasks: Our mental blocks are triggered because we are overwhelmed by work. This can make us stressed or anxious.

  The easiest things to work through is to chart out a list and pick the smallest or the easiest task. This will help create a positive mindset to complete other tasks off the list.

• Take breaks: Take proper breaks as and when needed. Sitting at the workstation, unable to be productive is one of the signs of mental blocks. Take a walk. It will help in refreshing the mind and clear the headspace.

  Sometimes, it helps in finding an alternative to approach to the problem at hand.

• Clean up: For some people, cluttered spaces do not gel well. It leads to anxiety and can distract them from the tasks at hand.

  Declutter space around you, from time to time, and decrease the chances of getting triggered.

• Do not overcommit: Know thy limit! Hard work and putting in extra efforts are great, but do not do it to the point of burnout. Overcommitting can trigger stress and overwhelm the person.

• Take care: Mental health, very much like the physical body, needs care. It is important to consider the mental stamina, workload, and bandwidth to complete the tasks at hand. They will help being productive.

Simple ways to take care of yourself:

• Sleep for 7-9 hours a day

• Exercise at least 2 hours a week

• Practice meditation and mindfulness

• Write journals

Conclusion:

A creative mind helps us understand the problems or issues of the society and how we can overcome them. It is through the implementation of creativity the world has some of the finest inventions. It has helped our society progress and it will nurture future generations as well.

This World Creativity and Innovation Day let us find ways to nurture creativity and fight the mental blockages. Let us help the society progress further.

That’s all I have for now,

I will write to you soon.

Take care!