Stress can prevent you from performing at your best, thinking clearly, and coming up with good ideas. There’s no way any of that will happen when your boss is annoying you, the kids are screaming, and the pot on the stove is boiling over. You need time to relax in order to reduce stress, but sometimes that’s hard to do.

If you really want to take your mind off things, the best thing to do is engage in a creative project! Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile tested this theory almost ten years ago when she persuaded 200 corporate employees to keep daily work diaries.

“When people were feeling more positive, they were more likely to be creative,” she said. “People were more likely to come up with a creative idea or solve a complex problem in a new way on those days, weeks, months when they were having the most positive affect.”

Read the full story here :: How creativity can help reduce stress