It was while untangling a charger from a nest of cables that I solved a work problem I’d been agonizing over for days.
No whiteboard. No brainstorming session. Just a quiet click in my brain while I was trying not to electrocute myself.
We talk about creativity as if it belongs to a distant tribe—painters, poets, genius inventors.
But what if it’s something much closer, more domestic? What if everyday creativity—like rethinking how to talk to your teenager, or finding a way to make dinner from a half-empty fridge—is just as noble, just as essential?
I’ve come to believe that creative problem-solving is less about thinking “outside the box” and more about noticing the box in the first place. And then, having the courage to tilt your head and look at it sideways.
That kind of courage, I’ve noticed, doesn’t come naturally to most of us. We’re trained early on to find the right answer, not the interesting one. School teaches us to color inside the lines. Work teaches us to optimize. And life, at least the grown-up kind, teaches us to stop playing. No wonder so many of us feel stuck in loops—solving the same problems the same way, over and over, and wondering why nothing changes.
But the mind doesn’t grow in a straight line. It thrives on detours.
The science backs this up. Studies on cognitive flexibility—the brain’s ability to switch between different concepts—show that we become more creative when we deliberately step away from problem-solving and allow the unconscious mind to take over. It’s why our best ideas so often come in the shower, on walks, or in the middle of folding laundry. The brain, like a good jazz musician, needs space to improvise.
There’s also the matter of emotion. Stress is the creativity killer no one talks about enough. When we’re anxious, the brain narrows its focus, honing in on threats. It’s a survival response, not a creative one. That’s why one of the most radical things you can do when stuck is not to “try harder,” but to breathe, slow down, and give yourself permission to feel safe again.
I’ve found that people who solve problems creatively tend to do a few things differently. They learn from unusual places—novels, children, strangers on buses. They challenge their own assumptions, sometimes gleefully. And most importantly, they stay curious long enough to ask a better question.
There’s a kind of quiet bravery in this. In a world that rewards speed and certainty, it takes real guts to pause, to doubt, to play with possibilities. Thinking sideways isn’t a trick. It’s a mindset. A practice. A choice.
So if you’re staring down a problem right now—a stuck conversation, a failing plan, a life decision with no clear answer—try stepping back. Let it be messy for a while. Let it breathe. Then tilt your head just a little.
You might find the solution waiting patiently at the edge of your vision.