The 'Thirty Circles' Exercise
The mind is like a muscle.
The more you use it, the stronger it gets.
This statement is as true for creativity as it is for anything else.
One exercise to get your inventive brain warmed up is the ‘Thirty Circles’ exercise.
Don’t panic, this is an unbelievably simple practice and you can do it on your own or in a group.
Step one is to draw or print out thirty, same-sized circles on a large piece of paper - A4 is perfect.
(If you’re drawing them, you could use the bottom of a shot glass to trace out the circles).
Step two is to take a pen and turn each circle into something using your imagination. Give yourself no more than 3 minutes to complete the task.
For example, one circle could be an image of planet earth. Another could be an orange.
Or a bicycle wheel.
Or even a basketball.
You get the idea.
The goal of the exercise is to get your brain thinking broadly and is a form of divergent thinking.
To give you some ideas, have a look at the image above.
There is also a variant of this exercise using two circles instead of one. In this instance, you might imagine the two wheels of a bicycle or a pair of glasses, for example.
Once you’ve completed the exercise, reflect on the number and diversity of ideas. What did you learn?
Creative warmup exercises like this one are a great way to lower your inhibitions and avoid being critical of yourself before you’ve got started.
Another great one is Julia Cameron’s ‘Morning Pages’ exercise.
If you’re looking for more ways to be more creative, why not sign up for our How To Be More Creative course featuring some of the world’s top experts and certified by Cannes Lions.
