Creative Thinking And Increasing Workplace Productivity

The pressure and stress focused on increasing workplace productivity is getting to be almost unbearable: More companies are feeling that they have to be profitable at all costs, and that cost is usually your time and health. And usually that stress is compounded by the feeling that there is nothing you can do about it. There is something you can do, and it is can affect your personal specie directly

Many people are trapped in positions where they are very constrained in their autonomy. Even middle management positions are losing the discretion to make decisions, which is usually why people want to get into management. The answer is to use creative thinking to relieve yourself of stressful situations and to see the opportunities for growth and profit in this situation.

Let’s look at 5 ways to use creative thinking in stressful situations:
1. Put yourself in the position of the person bringing the stress. This may give you insight into not only the motivations behind the stressful situations, but also what will define success for that person.
2. Visualize the landscape when this stressful situation is solved. What will life look like when this stress is removed? Many times, this will give you the path or focus to solving the stress.
3. Give the problem to people who have no relation to the problem. For me, I often run business problems by my artist friends. Why? Because their perspectives will be totally new and unique. It may be totally wrong. But it is a reminder that there are alternative views available.
4. Meditate in this specific way. There are many ways to meditate. From deep breathing to focal point meditation, there are many techniques you can use. The way recommended here is to put the problem in your consciousness, and then let thoughts rise up uncensored. Just let each thought let new thoughts arise. Don’t analyze them. Don’t judge them. Just let them come up. Your mind will surprise you with how creative it can be.
5. Visualize the landscape when this stressful situation overwhelms you. What will life look like if this stress wins? By seeing the worst possible scenario, you may be able to identify the most important issue to tackle first.

The people above you (and there is always someone above you, even for the solo business owner) want you to work in a predictable way, with no deviation. And there are times that this is important. I don’t want my child’s surgeon to suddenly say “Hey. Let’s see what this does!” in the middle of an operation. But I do want that surgeon to eliminate the stress and pressure from his or her hospital management over unnecessary paperwork.

Many people think they have stifled their creative thinking. But everyone is creative and all the time. Think about the last time you had to come up with an alternate route to work because of traffic? This same approach can be used for increasing workplace productivity. An excellent way to jumpstart this is to engage someone to help you with stress management coaching, since stress is usually preventing you from seeing your own creativity.