Searching for inspiration is the most common form of finding ideas naturally. Inspiration can appear easily in various situations if there is a thought with a creative perspective. Whether you're looking for new product ideas for your business or you're looking to design your next oil painting, this wikiHow can help you unleash those creative abilities. Get started with Step 1 below.
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Method 1 of 3: Creating Your Travel Map
Step 1. Define your plan
Before you plan what you want to do, think about what you want to achieve. This will be a good starting point, like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel.
- Do you want to find inspiration for your business?
- Are you trying to come up with ideas for your next piece of art?
- Maybe you're trying to come up with an idea for an article you should write?
Step 2. Find out first what the conditions are
If you have a teacher, boss, client, or someone evaluating your work, first know what they expect or need. If not, find out what restrictions you must comply with and what end product you must produce. Not meeting requirements can sometimes provide a better experience and end product, but if you know what the restrictions are, you'll have a framework to help you get started.
- For example, do you have to work within a certain budget?
- Are you only allowed to use certain ingredients?
- Does this work have to be completed within a certain time?
Step 3. List and evaluate your assumptions
You will automatically make assumptions about things related to your work. What do people want? What are your limitations? What makes your work acceptable or considered fair? What should a general appearance look like? Make a list of these assumptions so you can use them in the future.
- For example, in working on a work of art, we might assume that people will like a certain color scheme that matches the theme of the gallery where the exhibition is taking place.
- For a job in a company, we might assume that customers expect something special that our competitors don't provide.
Step 4. Evaluate what you have to use for work
Pay close attention to what you've done in the past, what you've finished working on, and what resources are available to you. These things may be able to limit you at work.
- What equipment should you use?
- What materials or people have you not engaged in a long time?
- Was there something you worked on last year and can it still get better?
- Ask for opinions from others.
Method 2 of 3: Looking for Inspiration
Step 1. Do your research
Do some research to find out what people are doing when they do the same job as yours. Google is your friend on this adventure. You don't have to look at what other people are doing just to imitate it. However, you should observe in what ways their ideas don't work or what parts of their work work for you and you can implement.
Step 2. Watch what the innovators are doing
If you understand what mediocre quality work results in, discover what innovators do. Look for what constitutes their sophistication, and any valuable ideas or techniques they have used successfully. You have to apply them too in order to be as successful as they are! The results of innovation like this can make you different, make what you do something different, unforgettable, and become the center of attention.
Step 3. Go to a place
Get out of your everyday environment. This is a great way to get yourself out of the routine cycle of creation and think about things you've never thought of before. Take a walk, visit a local artisan or traditional market, or work while sitting in a cafe for a while. Environmental changes can make you think in different ways.
Step 4. Have an activity notebook at your bedside
Place a book by your bed to keep a regular record of your activities. You also need to prepare a waterproof notebook where you shower. Good ideas often arise when we are doing this activity, but disappear again if we are distracted by other things. With a pen and paper, you can immediately jot down the things you think about before they disappear!
Step 5. Rest
You should take breaks to keep your mind free from the habit of responding negatively. Often, when you're thinking and getting nothing, you're so focused on the fact that you're getting nothing that you can't think properly anymore.
Choose healthy snacks, hang out with coworkers, or do the daily chores around the house (like tidying up your kitchen after dinner)
Step 6. Try not to criticize
Criticism will not help the process of seeking inspiration. You need freedom with as little restraint as possible so you can come up with new ideas. Get out of the habit of criticizing so you can explore all the possibilities.
If you seek inspiration with other people, you need to remind them not to share negative opinions until you have found inspiration
Method 3 of 3: Inspirational Techniques
Step 1. Warm up
Don't look for inspiration with an unprepared body. You seem to immediately run fast without jogging first! Do light activities first to get your mind ready, such as compiling your dinner menu for this week, or making a list of things you want to accomplish at work, school, or whatever you're doing.
Step 2. Change your perspective
Put yourself in the shoes of your competitors, observe what you are doing at the moment and try to find ways to get better. How do they view what you are doing and the things you are improving? How will they change? What will they do next?
Step 3. Define the boundaries for the guide
By having boundaries that will guide you towards achieving your goals, such as a lower budget, new deadlines, or the use of certain materials, you will become more creative and innovative. This will help you get ideas that you couldn't find before.
Step 4. Create a thought guide
Mind guidance is one of the most popular techniques in the search for inspiration. You can create a mind guide by writing your ideas on a (or several!) sheets of card for notes. Nail these cards to the wall and then write your ideas on these cards. Write down every little thing that comes to mind, then start connecting the ideas you've gathered.
Step 5. Create groupings of ideas
Group your ideas into 3 categories: light ideas, big ideas, and crazy ideas. Find at least five ideas for each category. Usually, when we encounter ideas that we feel we can't or don't need to do, we'll come up with ideas that can actually help us.
Step 6. Write a poem, analysis, or review
Write a poem that tells what you want to do. You can also write an analysis of a theory or make a review of what you want to create. By laying out an outline of what you want to earn from your work, it will be easier for you to find ways to do it.
Step 7. Re-use the techniques from the past
Learn a way from the past that you haven't done before, and find ways to adapt it to today's conditions. You can also learn concepts that developed from the past and find ways to apply them today. For example, Twitter basically functions as a telegram over the internet. Some products that are widely used today utilize concepts that come from the past.
Step 8. Take advantage of the laryngeal idea finder
Searching for ideas online can really help you get started, even if you're still in the preparatory stage. Don't feel overwhelmed by or bound by the ideas that come up, but use these ideas as stepping stones. You can search for ideas through the following sites:
- https://ideagenerator.creativitygames.net/
- https://www.lib.odu.edu/researchassistance/ideagenerator/
- https://www.afflated.org/
Step 9. Keep asking
Always ask questions. Ask yourself questions. Ask questions of the people you invite for inspiration. Ask your friends and family members questions. Questions guide us so that we can really understand the things that once came to our mind. Ask detailed questions that can reveal the essence of a problem. Don't settle for short, predictable answers.
- Why do I want to paint with oil paints?
- Why do my customers like this product?
Step 10. Don't waste time
There are lots of little exercises for example using mind guides which are very helpful. But often there are distractions that keep you from successfully completing your work. Don't waste too much time searching for inspiration, but on the contrary you should do it as quickly as possible.
Step 11. Write a free essay
Free writing can be done by starting an essay that you continue to write without stopping. Writing an essay like this requires free association, where you naturally let your thoughts flow freely without trying to direct them. Write a sentence related to the topic you want to inspire while following your thoughts, then write down every word that just pops up from the conversation inside you without stopping to think. You never know where this thought will take you!
Tips
- Look for inspiration with friends. They may have different ideas so this collaboration can produce the perfect result, and you can help them too!
- Don't be afraid to channel crazy ideas out of your mind.
- Keep going, even if a good idea pops up when you start a session for inspiration; like any other good idea - or even better - can follow it.
- When looking for inspiration, it's a good idea to listen to classical or jazz music, or music without lyrics (you don't want the lyrics to distract you and distract you).
- Play imagination games in your spare time. Look at an object and try to relate it to something else. Then relate this again to something else. For example: apple → banana → banana peel → comedy → funny → clown → circus → lion, and so on! Let's play.
- The process of finding inspiration may seem difficult at first, but don't give up! If it doesn't work, try again.
- Keep the files while you do the search for inspiration, who knows one day you will need it.
- Do not rush to dismiss an idea. Keep notes and observe where your thoughts take you.
- The search for inspiration is an activity without restrictions. Try not to make corrections during the inspiration-seeking process because your writing may turn out badly.
- Prepare more stationery and a thick pile of paper so you have enough supplies to keep your work flowing without interruption.
- According to the illustration above, use a small piece of adhesive paper to take notes. Every time you think of something (anything!) write it down and stick it. Someday these notes will be useful and you can use to write your essay.
Warning
- Going through the process of seeking inspiration can be frustrating at times, so remember to take time to rest.
- Searching for inspiration can't guarantee that there won't be any more obstacles for writers, but this process can be a mental preparation and help give you an idea of where your writing process is headed.
