It doesn’t take a scientific study to tell you folks in the modern age have a hard time slowing down to smell the roses or even take a quick glance for that matter, yet this constant rush is robbing us of the inspiration that boosts the creative powers we crave.

That’s why Thorin Klosowski at Lifehacker offers us a few mindful tips to keep our eyes open to and our curiosity peaked by the simple things in life.

Train Yourself to Look for the Stuff that Matters to You

…It might sound counterintuitive that the best way to train yourself to observe more in the world is to learn what to ignore, but that’s the basic idea here. You can’t pay attention to everything, so decide what you want to look for to retrain your eye. When you do, you’ll naturally come up with more ideas for any given subject.

Challenge Yourself to Pay Attention to New Things

– Watch people in crowded areas: If the first thing you do when you sit down in a crowded place is pull out your phone, stop. Spend some time taking it all in and watching people. Look at how they act in crowded spaces, how they interact with others, and how they navigate the rush of it all.

– Assign yourself a scavenger hunt: Pick something and look for it throughout your day. This could be anything, broken windows, security cameras, or a particular graffiti artist. Find it, take a picture, or note it. Look for more. When you’re done, try to figure out why that stuff is there…

“Listen & Observe” Episode Resources