Solo Games
with the Creativity Cards

The five day creativity boot camp. Go through the entire deck, and select five cards for things you promise yourself you’ll do in the next week. Put these five cards somewhere you can see them, like on your desk or held on your refrigerator with a magnet. When you do an exercise, put that card back in the deck. Then, a few weeks later, do it again with five completely different cards.

Moving forward. If you’re stumped on your project, uncertain about how to proceed, then shuffle the 52 cards again and select a card at random. Apply that technique to your situation. Don’t give up and move on just because the technique seems unrelated to your situation; force yourself to think of a way you can apply it. If you need more time, keep the card out overnight and try it again the next morning.

Combine cards. Randomly choose two cards; make sure they’re each from a different one of the eight colors. Look at them together for a minute or two, and try to identify the core essence that underlies both of these techniques (with some pairs this can be pretty hard!). When you’ve identified and described this connecting theme, your brain will probably feel stretched a little bit; that feeling is the core of the creative mind.

Dream time. Keep the creativity cards next to your bed. Randomly select a card just before turning out the light. Read it and think about how you’d apply it to your situation. When you wake up the next morning, read the card again. Often this gives you new insight, because it taps into the power of your subconscious to move your process forward.