To rediscover the curiosity needed for work, practice it in low-stakes daily life. Take a different route to work, order a coffee you'd never choose, or read a different genre of book. Consciously observing how these novel experiences feel primes your brain to question assumptions and see new possibilities in your professional environment.

To break out of convergent thinking patterns (e.g., "black" to "white"), practice an "A to C" exercise. Think of the immediate association (B) but then voice the association that follows (C). For example, Chair (A) -> Desk (B) -> nine to five (C). This trains your brain to make more creative leaps.

Breakthroughs often occur in routine environments like the shower or during a walk. These activities promote what psychologists call "divergent thinking," where the relaxed mind makes novel connections. This scientific process can be intentionally triggered to solve complex problems and foster creativity.

To inject fresh ideas into your work, take 30 minutes to read magazines you would never normally pick up. Suspend logic and look for unexpected connections to your project. This practice of connecting irrelevant things can reveal a new angle or insight by breaking your established thought patterns.

A core ideation technique is to ask, 'What if this but for that?' The key is to connect two concepts that are very far apart (e.g., Japanese architecture and hand soap). The greater the distance between the two, the more 'creative tension' and differentiation the final idea possesses.

The brain is designed to avoid costly thinking by defaulting to the "path of least resistance." To generate novel ideas, intentionally create a "preclude constraint" by blocking the most obvious or habitual solution. This forces your brain to explore new, more inventive pathways it would otherwise ignore.

Minor physical disruptions to your routine environment, like turning your chair or walking a familiar path differently, can trick your brain out of autopilot. This creates a new perspective and stimulates curiosity with minimal effort, sparking new neural pathways for creativity.

Improving imagination is less like a painter adding to a blank canvas and more like a sculptor removing material. The primary task is to forget expected answers and consensus reality. This subtractive process uncovers the truly novel ideas that are otherwise obscured by convention.

Instead of using AI to generate final creative work, use it as a tool for anti-inspiration. Figma's CEO asks generative AI for the "10 cliche ways to say this" so he can consciously push beyond the obvious and predictable. This technique helps creators find novel angles and maintain a unique voice.