Feeling blocked, unmotivated and uninspired? Part 2: Time to Play

Welcome to Part 2 of my mini post series about how to deal with feeling blocked, stuck or in a rut.  

In my last post I talked about using Inspiration  to  help you break you out of your blocked state.  And in this post I am going to speak about Playing Games to stimulate your brain  to help you come up with a fresh and fun way to approach to your problem or block.

PART 2: Play a Game to Clear Blocks

 Do you remember playing as a kid – how you could quickly forget you just skinned your knees from a fall, because you were having so much fun playing with a friend? Well the same trick works when it comes to overcoming any kind of block.  Playing a game, can not only help you forget the fact you were in a blocked state, but if you play the right games you can discover ideas or solutions that will help you get your forward momentum back.

Set aside at least 15 minutes to play a game by yourself or with others. This can break your mental loop and help you get your brain to shift gears and get energized again with stimulation.

Not all games are equal or beneficial. Some games, decks and apps are just good for entertainment and distraction but there are some games out there that do more – they stimulate and inspire.

Feel free to try these:
And please share with me in the comments section if you have others to recommend

Disruptus – Everyone of all Ages
The main purpose of this game is to stimulate innovation and disruptive thinking.  This game has been enjoyed by kids of all ages, but has also been a powerful tool used by Corporations to help them think outside the box and come up with ways to disrupt the stagnation of their own products and services.  Need help breaking the boundaries? Try this game.

Creativity Whack Pack
Great for Creative Individuals, Entrepreneurs and Corporate teams

Author and Innovator Roger Von Oech, is a known leader for creating books and tools to help people break down the blocks and get back into action again.  This Creativity Whack Pack is well respected across creative and corporate types alike. In fact recently Timothy Ferris (of Four Hour Workweek, Body, Chef) even included this as one of his personally curated items in his Quarterly.co contributor package. 

So if you need to break out of habitual thought patterns, this is a good tool for you. Used by executives, entrepreneurs and artists, they use this 64 card deck to generate new ideas, make decisions and basically provides you a "creativity workshop in a box." 
(there is also a Creative Whack app in iTunes you can now purchase too) 

Innovation Games - for Agile Entrepreneurs 

And, for those of you who are startups or agile entrepreneurs and are blocked about what products or features to build, I recommend checking out Innovation Games. 

When I was at Adobe, we received training in innovation games and processes, which turned out to be a great way to brainstorm, prioritize and plan, especially when you are trying to narrow down on what to work on next, when you have a large backlog of issues and features you want to address.

The Whole Brain Game
I like this game because they designed it to get you to use both the left and right side of your brain.  Filled with intriguing and thought-provoking questions it is a great tool to get those mental juices going. This is perfect if you wan to engage both the creative and logical parts of your mind. 

You can play this with others or play by yourself. If you want to play by yourself, simply grab a dozen cards randomly and try answering them.  

So I challenge you right now! 
Get up go play a creativity building fun game and see what happens!
~

In the third part of this Blog series - We will talk about how exercise and physical movement can sweep away those mental blocks.

 RECOMMENDED READS: 
Part 1: Feeling blocked? Get Inspired