Workshop: Psychology Tips to Boost Creativity and Productivity

We live in a time when we are increasingly distracted, anxious, angry, and depressed. Dr. Gina Simmons Schneider offers creativity boosters that bypass blocks, and shares compassion practices that foster creative flow. This essential workshop can help you unlock your creativity using the latest neuroscience.

Workshop Outline

Goal: Learn and practice psychological tools to help boost creative productivity.

I. Introduction

• How to be creative everywhere, all the time. And why you should.
• Why spending time thinking about writer’s block and obstacles to creative productivity is not useful.
• Accept the truth that creative productivity has no limits but for the ones we impose.

II. What neuroscience has to say about creativity

• Why it is better to be a curious “problem finder” than a confident “problem solver.”
• Memory
• Divergent thinking
• Convergent thinking
• Flow

III. Creativity boosters that bypass blocks

• Love/hate/fear lists
• Curiosity lists
• Opposite action
• Find the sweet in the bitter
• Call on lateral mentors
• Embrace limits

IV. Compassion practices to foster creative flow

• Acknowledge that it takes courage to create
• Accept that doubts, delays, failures, and frustrations are necessary in every hero’s journey, including yours
• Do not reject any of your feelings, weaknesses, or shameful secrets. They are creative gold. Embrace them tenderly, with honor, instead.
• Let go of judgements and social comparisons. Or if you must judge and compare, compare down not up, and place a time limit on it.
• Concluding thoughts and Q and A

Biography

Dr. Gina Simmons Schneider is the author of Frazzlebrain: Break Free from Anxiety, Anger, and Stress Using Advanced Discoveries in Neuropsychology (Central Recovery Press, April 2022). She is a licensed psychotherapist, executive coach, and corporate trainer. She serves as codirector of Schneider Counseling and Corporate Solutions. Dr. Schneider is a coping skills expert with more than 25 years of experience helping people regulate difficult emotions and conflicts. Dr. Schneider is certified in Neuroscience for Clinicians through PESI and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing through National Trauma Services. She has been quoted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the San Diego Union-Tribune. Laurence Knight interviewed her for the BBC World Service program, “How to Be Angry.” Dr. Schneider blogs for Psychology Today and writes the award-winning Manage Anger Daily blog. She has blogged for Forbes and Women in Crime Ink which the Wall Street Journal named a “blog worth reading.” Dr. Schneider provides training for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations online and throughout San Diego County.

RECORDING NOTICE: This online event enables an attendee to participate through a personal device's microphone and/or camera. An attendee may elect not to participate through use of a microphone and/or camera. The election of an attendee to use a microphone and/or camera constitutes a release and waiver of rights in the capture of the attendee's image, likeness, and/or voice for the exclusive use by the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild.