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Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life

Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life

by Shelley Carson
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Release Date: September 2012
ISBN: 9781118396544
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Book Description

Research-based techniques that show everyone how to expand creativity and increase productivity

Harvard psychologist Shelley Carson?s provocative book, published in partnership with Harvard Health Publications, reveals why creativity isn't something only scientists, investors, artists, writers, and musicians enjoy; in fact, all of us use our creative brains every day at home, work and play. Each of us has the ability to increase our mental functioning and creativity by learning to move flexibly among several brain states.

  • Explains seven brain states or "brainsets" and their functions as related to creativity, productivity, and innovation

  • Provides quizzes, exercises, and self-tests to activate each of these seven brainsets to unlock our maximum creativity

    • Your Creative Brain, called by critics a new classic in the field of creativity, offers inspiring suggestions that can be applied in both one's personal and professional life.

    Table of Contents

    1. Cover Page
    2. Title Page
    3. Copyright
    4. Contents
    5. Dedication
    6. PREFACE
    7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    8. Part 1: Meet Your Creative Brain
      1. Chapter 1: Wanted: Your Creative Brain
        1. “Isn't Creativity Mainly for Artists, Writers, and Musicians?”
        2. “What if I'm Just Not a Creative Person?”
      2. Chapter 2: Your Mental Comfort Zone
        1. Which Brainset Do You Prefer?
      3. Chapter 3: Tour Your Creative Brain
        1. How the Brain Communicates with Itself
        2. Geography of the Brain
      4. Chapter 4: Brainsets and the Creative Process
        1. The Deliberate and Spontaneous Pathways to Creativity
        2. The Creative Process
    9. Part 2: Training Your Creative Brain
      1. Chapter 5: Opening the Mind: Accessing the Absorb Brainset
        1. So Easy a Caveman Could Do It
        2. Defining the Absorb Brainset
        3. Neuroscience of the Absorb Brainset
        4. When to Access the Absorb Brainset
        5. Exercises: The Absorb Brainset
      2. Chapter 6: Imagining the Possibilities: Accessing the Envision Brainset
        1. From Memory to Imagination
        2. Defining the Envision Brainset
        3. Neuroscience of the Envision Brainset
        4. Exercises: The Envision Brainset
      3. Chapter 7: Thinking Divergently: Accessing the Connect Brainset
        1. Defining the Connect Brainset
        2. Neuroscience of the Connect Brainset
        3. When to Access the Connect Brainset
        4. Exercises: The Connect Brainset
      4. Chapter 8: Shaping the Creative idea: Accessing the Reason Brainset
        1. Defining the Reason Brainset
        2. Neuroscience of the Reason Brainset
        3. When to Access the Reason Brainset
        4. Exercises: The Reason Brainset
      5. Chapter 9: Recognizing Useful Ideas: Accessing the Evaluate Brainset
        1. Not All Ideas Are Good Ideas
        2. Defining the Evaluate Brainset
        3. Neuroscience of the Evaluate Brainset
        4. When to Access the Evaluate Brainset
        5. Exercises: The Evaluate Brainset
      6. Chapter 10: Using Emotion Creatively: Accessing the Transform Brainset
        1. Levels of Emotional Experience
        2. Defining the Transform Brainset
        3. Mental Disorders, Transformation, and Creativity
        4. Neuroscience of the Transform Brainset
        5. When to Access the Transform Brainset
        6. Exercises: The Transform Brainset
      7. Chapter 11: Performing Creatively: Accessing the Stream Brainset
        1. Defining the Stream Brainset
        2. Neuroscience of the Stream Brainset
        3. When to Access the Stream Brainset
        4. Exercises: The Stream Brainset
    10. Part 3: Putting the CREATES Strategies to Work
      1. Chapter 12: Flexing Your Creative Brain
        1. Dimensions of the CREATES Brainsets
        2. The Importance of Continual Learning
        3. Exercises: Flexing Your Creative Brain
      2. Chapter 13: Applying the Brainsets to Real-World Creativity
        1. Setting the Mood: Tips for Establishing a Creative Environment
    11. APPENDIX 1: How to Score the CREATES Brainsets Assessment
      1. Scoring Cluster One Questions
      2. Scoring Cluster Two Exercises
    12. APPENDIX 2: The Token Economy System
      1. Creating a Rewards List
      2. Earning Your Rewards
    13. APPENDIX 3: The Daily Activities Calendar
    14. NOTES
    15. REFERENCES
    16. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    17. ABOUT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
    18. INDEX