People used to think that creativity was a gift from the gods. But now we have some

clues from neuroscience and psychology for how it really works and where it really comes from.

Welcome back to savvy psychologist. I'm your host Dr. Jade Wu. Every week I'll help you meet life's

challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Today we walk through some down-to-earth strategies for how to cultivate creativity.

Pop quiz, what can you use a brick for other than building a house?

And think fast.

Let's see, a door holder, paperweight, helium balloon holder downer, stepping stone, maybe a very crude sundial needle?

What we just did is called the alternate uses task, a psychology experimental task developed

by psychologist J.P. Guilford in 1967. This was one of the earliest tools we had for measuring creativity.

By asking you to come up with as many new uses for a common object as you can,

it taps into not only your ability to generate ideas quickly, but also

whether your ideas are flexible, original, and useful.

But what is creativity exactly?

Is it just originality, flexibility in these things?

Is it a personality trait you're born with or is it a skill you can develop? Do we always have some

creativity flowing through us even for daily tasks or do we get into a creative

head space during moments of inspiration. Nowadays we no longer believe

that creativity comes to us from the muses of ancient Greek mythology though we do

still have a lot of questions about how it works in the brain.

However, psychological science does give us some clues into where it comes from and, more importantly importantly how we can cultivate it. So today let's walk

through six tips for how to create your own creativity in your own life.

...