Some people can be uncomfortable with change, but sometimes (as Sheryl Crow says) a change will do you good. It’s easy to fall into the same patterns and habits and sometimes these behaviors are so ingrained into our daily routines we don’t even realize it until a change comes along and mixes everything up.

Naturally our first reaction is over-reaction. Someone pushes a meeting ahead at the last minute leaving you to wait in an unfamiliar place for half an hour. Traffic forces us to take a different route to the grocery store. It could even be something as little as Starbucks running out of your favorite latté topper. End of the world, right?

Except consider this: previous scientific studies have proved that changing up our daily routine can actually be stimulating to our brains. Forcing our brain to think beyond our normal range of daily activities can foster creative thinking and improve our problem-solving skills.

Take this as an example: try writing your name with the hand opposite to the one you normally use to write. Writing our names is something that probably most of us do on a daily basis. See how much more brain power it took to write it with your other hand? If we took the same logic and apply it to other things that we do in our lives, then you can come up with other changes in your routine that force you to think creatively and lift you out of that rut.

I recently tried this when I found myself staring at a blank Microsoft Word document for almost twenty minutes, willing words to type themselves onto the screen in a way that made sense. After my clairvoyance skills failed me, I decided that the next best thing to revive me would be to head outside with my dogs for a walk. Once we had started I decided, on a whim, to do our normal circuit backwards. Even though I have lived in the neighborhood I do for upwards of 20 years and have walked those same streets at least one hundred times, it still proved to be pretty difficult to follow the same route backwards. That time to myself, the fresh air and the increased brain power made my walk that much more invigorating. After that, I was excited to get home and finish what I had been trying to start for ages.

Try it sometime. Change the location you work, the coffee you order, what to have for lunch today. You may find yourself more energized and ready to pull yourself out of the rut you find yourself in, solve a problem you’ve been stuck on, or break through that writer’s block that’s been plaguing you for weeks.

A change really can do a world of good when it comes to being productive, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Even if it doesn’t help to jump start that project you’ve been pondering, you’re doing something exciting and new for yourself too!

Feel like changing it up? Take a break from your business and being busy by checking out what I’ve been reading lately, or try out a new recipe from my baking section. My list of recipes I want to try and books I want to read just keeps growing!