沒靈感又沒創意？5招讓你擁有更多新想法
Almost everybody want to have better ideas and lots of them. You hear all sorts of analogies when it comes to producing better ideas, “think outside the box”, “look at it from another angle”, etc. All of them have their validity but often leaves you feeling drained and stupid.
幾乎每個人都想要有好的想法，還想要有很多的想法。在談到思考新想法時，你會聽到各種類比方法，“要跳出固有的思維模式”，“從其它角度思考”等等。每種方法都有它的有效性，因而常常會讓你精疲力盡又傻里傻氣。
Why can’t I think outside the box? What is the box? Where is the “other” angle? Are creativity and idea creation perhaps for a select few? A rare breed of creative geniuses? I say definitely not. Armed with a few new ideas you can become more creative than you ever have been before. And the good news is that it’s not very difficult and it can be fun too.
我爲什麼跳不出框框？框框是什麼？“另一個角度”在哪裏？創造力和創意只能是屬於某幾個人嗎？富有創意的天才是稀有品種嗎？絕不是這樣的。只要懂幾個概念，你就能比之前變得更富有創意。好消息是這一點都不難，此外它還很有趣。
The biggest problem with not coming up with new and better ideas is that your brain is basically lazy. It will keep to the same thinking patterns as much as it can.
你沒有想到新穎和更好的想法，最大的一個問題是你的大腦太懶惰了。它會最大限度地保持同樣的思考模式。
Keeping to the same thinking will produce more of the same types of ideas. The revolutionary ideas will not likely come at all. The reason your brain sticks to the same thought patterns is that you are feeding it the same kind of input all the time. More of the same input will make sure that your brain sticks to the same thought patterns. A second very important component in idea creation is volume. Not every idea you get will be brilliant, but by increasing the number of ideas you will naturally increase the number of good ideas as well. Quite simple really.
保持同樣的思考方式會產生更多同樣類型的想法。所以不太可能想得到革命性的想法。而產生大腦固守同樣的思考模式的原因在於你總是在做同樣的思考。第二大非常重要的因素是量。不是你想到的每一個想法都會精彩紛呈，但是隨着想法越來越多，你自然就會增加好想法的數量。真的很簡單。
So, now we know that to create better ideas we need to change our thought patterns and at the same time generate more ideas. You need to change the input, without changing the input you will be stuck.
現在我們知道，要創造好的想法，我們需要改變我們的思考模式，同時產生更多的想法。你需要改變輸入模式，不改變輸入，你還是會卡在那裏。
Here are 5 ways to get new input that will have you creating more and better ideas continuously.
這裏有5個方法能獲取新的輸入，這些方法會令你持續不斷地創造更多又更好的想法。
1. Choose a new way to get to work.
選一種新的工作方式
This may seem like a small thing, but by going out of your way to find new ways to get to work you are changing your input naturally. You will see new things, think about new things and make new connections.
這看起來像是一件小事，但是擺脫自己的方式去找尋新的方式，你自然就改變了輸入。你會看到新的事物，思考新的事物，建立新的聯繫。
2. Ask a child how they would solve a problem.
問問小孩子他們是怎麼解決問題的
Children are not stuck in their ways the same way as adults can be. To them everything is possible. Even if the solution they present is not perfect or even practical it is very likely that it will spark new ideas in your own head.
孩子們不會像大人一樣侷限在同樣的一種方式上。對他們來說，任何事都是可能的。即使他們展現的解決方案算不上完美也算不上實用，但很有可能它會在你腦中迸發出新的想法。3. Pick a random magazine to read.
隨便找本雜誌看看
Computer programmers have their own favorite magazines, architects know which magazines are hot for architecture and so on. The problem with this is that everybody will be subject to the same stream of ideas. By going into a magazine store and randomly picking a magazine that might be about knitting and then actually reading it you will most likely find that the things you are thinking about have been solved already in another domain. Free ideas (except for the price of the magazine)!
程序員有他們自己最喜愛看的雜誌，建築師們知道哪些雜誌是建築方面的前沿期刊，等等。有一個問題是，大家都會受限於同一潮流的想法。走進雜誌店，隨便拿一本雜誌閱讀，也許這本雜誌是有關針織的，你很可能發現你一直在思考的那些事已然在其它領域裏得到解決了。這些想法都免費哦（當然你得爲雜誌買單）！
4. Force yourself to make connections.
強迫自己建立聯繫
This is a little game you can play with yourself, pick random things around your house (or even better, out of a bag) and force yourself to make connections between the object and the problem or project you are working on. Keep doing it for 10-15 minutes and see what happens.
這是一個你可以和自己玩的小遊戲，在屋裏隨意挑一些東西（或包裏也行），然後強迫自己建立聯繫，比如在物品和問題之間，或是物品和你正在進行的項目之間。花上10到15分鐘，然後看看效果如何。
5. Self impose limits.
自我設限
By imposing limits on yourself your brain will have to work overtime and really get out of its own patterns. If you work with tools, remove the tool you use most frequently and ask yourself how you can accomplish a task in this new situation. Or, why not force yourself to explain a problem without using “shop talk”.
通過自我設限，你的大腦就不得不加班加點，這就走出了它固有的模式。如果你工作時需要工具，把你最常用的工具拿走，然後問問自己在這種新情況下你能如何完成這項任務。或者，嘗試強迫自己在不用專業術語的情況下解釋這個問題。
What next?
那下一個是什麼呢？
The ideas above can of course be refined and substituted for lots of other ideas. As long as what you do forces new input on you, you will benefit. Also remember that it will be up to you to sort through and pick the best ideas. At least this way you will have more of them and they will be influenced by a larger space of knowledge and that is the key.
以上想法當然可以細化，或用其它想法替代。只要你能產生新的輸入，你就有收穫了。此外要記住，整理並挑選出最好主意的人是你。至少這樣你會有越來越多的想法，它們也會受到廣博的學識的影響，而這纔是關鍵所在。
