Have you tried being lazy in a creative way? It's a good way to unwind and a great way to think of new ideas and solve problems. How does one idle in a creative way? Just chill out, let your mind wander, and use one of the many ways to come up with ideas.
b>A Creative Way of Loafing
My favourite method is one that helps me come up with new ideas instead of solving problems. It can be used in everything. It's just coming up with new ways to use ideas that already exist.
I was once lying on the couch when I saw an ad for a company that sends a dog into your home to find mould. You may already know that you can teach a dog to find almost anything. A dog that could tell if you had cancer was even in the news a year or two ago.
What did I think first? "I wonder if dogs could smell anything else?" My first thought was to use dogs to find other animals. Since they are so good at finding lost people, why not have a service to help find lost pets? The dog is on the trail as soon as it smells the cat's favourite rug.
An example from Creative Loafing
You can certainly use your free time to just think about things at random, but why not combine that with a good way to come up with ideas? Then you can lie down under a tree and keep coming up with new ideas. For this "new-application technique," you just need to look for new ways to use the main idea.
For example, you might lay there and think about the pneumatic tubes that deliver your money and papers at a drive-through bank. The essence is a cartridge that uses air pressure to push things through a tube. I think the same idea would work for moving people. Could "the tube" take you to the next city, or could this be turned into a ride at an amusement park?
Check out other parts of an idea as well. For example, these tubes make it possible to serve more than one customer at a time. Where else do they need it? I think of a drive-through for fast food. Maybe drinks would spill out of pneumatic tubes, but the idea of multiple car lanes can be used. There would be room for three different lines of cars if the drive-through windows were spread out like spokes.
If you want to try this method out, just relax and...
Think of three new ways that pedal power could be used.
Think of two new ways to use magnets.
Think of a way that Darwin's theory of natural selection could be used in a field other than biology.
Can you see how simple it is to think of something new? Why not learn more ways to do things? Then use them to solve your own problems. Lastly, keep a notebook or tape recorder handy so you can get the most out of your free time.
