Synopsis of an article from Fast Company by Nick Wolny, Published 19th July 2020.
This article explains that anger and frustration can be harnessed and have potential to be transformed from a negative emotion into a powerful tool that empowers us to pursue desired goals.
“If you’re angry about something, your brain is wired to make you want to move toward the emotion and fully engulf yourself in it.”
Nick Wolny
A study on the impact of emotions on creativity in 2014 identified that positive emotions can constrain creativity whereas negative emotions and in particular anger facilitates and fosters creative performance. Anger can catalyse innovation, channeling your emotions into a productive source of creativity.
How to Channel Your Anger
Nick suggests three ways to harness your energy and build ‘fuel for our creative fire’.
Stream of consciousness writing – the classic brain dump that you may have learned how to do in school, grab your note book and start writing. Empty the thoughts out of your head and get it onto a page (journaling daily is another productive way to build this into routine). He proposes a tool Squibly’s web-based The Most Dangerous Writing App to help you with the process. (this ap deletes your writing if you stop for more than 5 secs)
Sketchnoting – The visual way to capture your thoughts (I would refer to this as mind mapping), Sketchnoting is done with shapes, bubbles and arrows etc and can be captured on paper a whiteboard (or using a mind map tool).
“In Dr. Betty Edwards‘ seminal book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, verbal function and cognition reside mostly in the brain’s left hemisphere, whereas visual function is processed in the more dreamy right hemisphere. If you need to get your creative gears turning, sketchnoting possible solutions through conceptual shapes and structures may help unlock new and fresh ideas.“
Nick Wolny
Ultradian Rhythm – (this was a new one for me) similar to circadian rhythm your body is most effective in 90 minute blocks of focus, followed by 30 minutes rest period. Research has identified that with a process of regular recuperation our bodies can be more effective and avoid burn out.
Read the full article here:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90529214/anger-and-frustration-can-jumpstart-creativity-use-these-3-tricks-to-channel-it-productively