--- title: What 7 Things Can Geniuses Teach Us About Being More Creative? description: Keep lots of ideas banging around in your head canonical: https://time.com/3423723/7-things-geniuses-teach-us/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-24T04:01:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T07:55:32.955Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 7 Things Geniuses Can Teach Us About Being More Creative og:description: Keep lots of ideas banging around in your head og:url: https://time.com/3423723/7-things-geniuses-teach-us/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a2dbb92aa5ce973/6986a50f810bbb3d6ac939a4/485209629.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5400 og:image:height: 3038 og:image:alt: 485209629 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Things Geniuses Can Teach Us About Being More Creative twitter:description: Keep lots of ideas banging around in your head twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a2dbb92aa5ce973/6986a50f810bbb3d6ac939a4/485209629.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What 7 Things Can Geniuses Teach Us About Being More Creative? > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d1a738c2-6a68-42e1-bd26-bca7bbc616cc&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Sep 24, 2014 4:01 AM UTC  Young woman studying blueprint Young woman studying blueprint Steve Prezant—Image Source/Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Sep 24, 2014 4:01 AM UTC **Work hard** Hard work (often more than 10,000 hours worth) is vital. Via [Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Ghandi](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465027741/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- This type of [Deliberate Practice](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-type-of-practice-produces-peak-performan) and [dedication](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/11/secret-success-not-giving-up/) is what it takes to [become an expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/what-does-it-take-to-become-an-expert-at-anyt/). Formal education [isn’t as important](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/how-much-education-did-the-greatest-creative/): most creative geniuses had the equivalent of a college dropout level of schooling. **Be curious and driven** For his book [Creativity](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060928204/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0060928204&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20), noted professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi did interviews with 91 groundbreaking individuals across a number of disciplines, including 14 Nobel Prize winners. In [50 Psychology Classics](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857883861/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1857883861&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20) Tom Butler-Bowdon summed up many of Csikszentmihalyi’s findings including this one: --- > “” --- **Live in a big city** There’s a reason you’re more likely to find artists in cities. Cities are more creative and their inhabitants are too. Via [Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594485380/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1594485380&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- **Balance creative teams** The most creative teams are a mix of old friends and new blood. Via [Imagine: How Creativity Works](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847677878/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1847677878&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- **Keep lots of ideas banging around in your head** Having multiple hobbies allows your brain to subconsciously compare and contrast problems and solutions, forming new connections at the margins of each. Via [Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594485380/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1594485380&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- Similarly, reading multiple books at the same time vs serially lets your brain juxtapose new ideas and develop new connections. Via [Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594485380/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1594485380&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- **Work on projects because of passion, not money** This is what produces the best art and, eventually, the most success. Via Daniel Pink’s very interesting book [Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594484805/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- Everything you need to know to be more creative is [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/what-are-the-four-principles-that-will-lead-y/). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/)**_._** **Join more than 100,000 readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD). Related posts: [What are the four principles that will lead you to breakthrough creativity?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/what-are-the-four-principles-that-will-lead-y/) [What does it take to become an expert at anything?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/08/what-does-it-take-to-become-an-expert-at-anyt/) [Are creative people more likely to be crazy?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/are-creative-people-more-likely-to-be-crazy/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3423723/7-things-geniuses-teach-us/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3423723/7-things-geniuses-teach-us/"},"headline":"What 7 Things Can Geniuses Teach Us About Being More Creative?","datePublished":"2014-09-24T04:01:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T07:55:32.955Z","description":"Keep lots of ideas banging around in your head","url":"https://time.com/3423723/7-things-geniuses-teach-us/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a2dbb92aa5ce973/6986a50f810bbb3d6ac939a4/485209629.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a2dbb92aa5ce973/6986a50f810bbb3d6ac939a4/485209629.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"485209629","caption":"485209629","creditText":"Steve Prezant—Image Source/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3423723/7-things-geniuses-teach-us/","name":"What 7 Things Can Geniuses Teach Us About Being More Creative?"}}]}] ```