Uprooting your normal routine can increase creativity:
Doing something in an unconventional way, such as fixing breakfast in the "wrong" order, violates an expectation of how the world usually works and how actions usually unfold. When someone personally and actively experiences such unconventional events, she is presumably pushed outside her comfort zone and thus "learns" a lesson: "The world can be different. I can do things differently."
Researchers argue this logic explains a major benefit of immigration:
Previous research showed that periods of immigration have been historically followed by exceptional creative achievement. Our findings suggest a potential explanation: Immigrants bring new customs and ideas that may act as ‘diversifying experiences’ for the local population, and thus may enhance creativity via cognitive flexibility.
The Dish 