How to become more confident in your creativity in science

Become more confident in your ideas in science! "I don't have any ideas!" "I don't know if my ideas are any good!" "Nobody cares about my ideas!" Does this sound familiar? These are some of the questions that may come up in your mind as you think about creative ideas. These are roadblocks to developing your creative output in science, in the form of opinion/ viewpoint/ perspective/ commentary papers.
Here some thoughts on how to overcome them...
#creativity #science #creativeblock #phdlife #postdoc
Matthias Rillig, professor of ecology at Freie Universität Berlin, talks about life in academia.
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[@mrillig]

How do you overcome some of the roadblocks to developing creative ideas in science? Please let me know what you think about this, and what has worked for you!

[@tsumbedzoleonardramalevha8881]

I have been part of sUnderfoot working group and hearing established scientists sharing ideas and saying 'I don't know this' has given me confidence to share my thoughts.

[@mrillig]

thanks. Yes, it is important to say I don't know and I don't understand. I make a point of doing this every time we discuss a paper and there is a bit I don't get.

[@fotensolution6504]

Thanks very much, Prof. I agree with you that writing down ideas and thoughts is the most critical way not to lose important ideas. I do that even on my phone but I seldom do that. Your emphasis has given me more encouragement. I encourage others to pay heed to this great suggestion from Prof. Thanks so much for your generosity Prof

[@mrillig]

great, thanks!!

[@AktifSabir]

Thank you very much for this important topic, content, and valuable suggestions. I think one of the most important tips also is reading from the areas irrelevant to yours but can be combined in a way. This helped me to think out of the box. Additionally, In my WhatsApp, I have an option to send messages to myself. Whenever I have an idea, most of the time it is before I sleep :), I send these ideas as messages to myself. I just wanted to share these useful tips with you guys, might work for some of you.

[@mrillig]

Thanks very much. Yes, the best ideas typically come by making connections with seemingly irrelevant, unrelated topics.

[@BelIa42]

Thank you very much for sharing this advice! Especially the part about simply writing everything down and not censoring yourself at the beginning and keeping the playfulness alive. That is my biggest hurdle. My inner critic is so loud that a lot of ideas never make it to my notes and then I keep wondering why I never have any ideas... I just started a new document and wrote all those ideas down that I deemed useless. I will continue to write them down from now on. I know that you need practise for everything... still it is so hard not wanting to wait until the "perfect" idea comes around... So thank you for the encouragement! I really needed it.

[@mrillig]

Thank you, that's great!! You made the first step... 🙂

[@fotensolution6504]

Prof. I have a question, please what sort of opinion or idea is worth considering writing an opinion paper? Writing a perspective and opinions, especially in high-impact journals is one of the difficult things for many of us as early career professionals. What kind of advice or guidance do you have to offer us your subscribers? Thank

[@mrillig]

What I tell people in my lab: it is important to have a specific mission in mind. What should this paper achieve, specifically? I think this is a good starting point for thinking about such papers.