The other day I dug up my copy of A Whack on the Side of the Head, the great creativity book by Roger von Oech. The book is like a Chinese menu, overflowing with exotic and delicious dishes, some of them familiar and some quite unknown.

I’m leaving it front and center on my desk and hope to grab one or two exercises a day to whack myself and refresh my creativity.

Today’s pages looks at all the ways we can get “whacked:” a question you never thought about, a joke, a paradox (such as artist Paul Gauguin saying “I shut my eyes in order to see.”), a job loss, a teacher pointing out your special talent in an area you hadn’t considered or even recognizing a connection between two things that previously seemed unrelated.

And I’m starting to consider creativity as a regular part of my life everyday, like the pet cat who sometimes disappears for a few hours but always turns up for a meal or jumps in your lap just when you least expect her.

Someone on Twitter suggested an excellent post on the PsyBlog titled: “Boost Creativity: 7 Unusual Psychological Techniques.” The blog is subtitled “understand your mind” and written by Jeremy Dean, a researcher at University College London, who covers an array of topics from memory to getting big project completed.

The creativity boosters also seem to come from eclectic sources and approaches.  I especially like No. 2, Fast Forward in time. The posting reads:

“Like psychological distance, chronological distance can also boost creativity.

Forster et al. (2004) asked participants to think about what their lives would be like one year from now. They were more insightful and generated more creative solutions to problems than those who were thinking about what their lives would be like tomorrow.

Thinking about distance in both time and space seems to cue the mind to think abstractly and consequently more creatively.

◊ For insight: Project yourself forward in time; view your creative task from one, ten or a hundred years distant.”

I am not sure I have developed the vision and creativity to see 100 years ahead. But I may be able to look at my situation from a decade into the future, especially if I keep Whack-ing and practicing creative techniques.

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Check out Roger von Oech’s blog and “Whack of the Day.” He also has developed it as an iPhone app.

Read more from PsyBlog on the psychology of relationships, or practicing gratitude. This blog really rocks! I’m going to add it to my favorites, whenever I find time to reestablish that list.