The Best Cannabis Strains for Creativity: Creative Focus

Contrary to popular belief, the “lazy stoner” stereotype could not be farther from depicting what modern cannabis users are actually like. Think Steve Jobs, Carl Sagan, Maya Angelou. Of course, there are strains of Cannabis famous for inducing the type of couch-locking experience that helped inspire the infamous stereotype. However, there are also strains of Cannabis know to enhance imagination, self-awareness, and even our connection to the world. In this article, we highlight strains of cannabis that index high for both creativity and focus, providing a powerful combination for innovation and problem solving.

The variety of Cannabis strains currently available is due in part to meeting the various needs and desires of Cannabis users. In particular, people have begun to turn to Cannabis to improve their focus. As an oversaturation of media shortens attention spans, focus becomes harder and harder to maintain and direct. Yet, certain Cannabis strains have been known to help amplify people’s innate capacity for focus.

“I like to get high and look at and go through Excel spreadsheets building models for companies I am thinking about investment in. It helps me focus, get in a flow state and really empathize with the founders, their customers, the business variables and product/market fit. It’s like getting a second opinion from myself.” - Anonymous Silicon Valley Investor.

Similar to the way Cannabis can flood the mind with ideas and inspire an influx of imagination, certain strains of Cannabis can also create a point of convergence in the way the mind processes incoming information. By intensifying the intake of information, Cannabis is helping free the mind from its typical thought patterns and processes which may even allow for a much more solid grasp of the concepts at hand. Cannabis’ impact on focus continues to undergo research, however, preliminary studies seem to be suggesting that Cannabis may be a suitable replacement for ADD and ADHD medication.

Although staying focused nowadays is a task in of itself, certain Cannabis strains can ease people into a hyper focused mindset where work, productivity and problem-solving can thrive. The calming strains identified for Creative Focus provide alertness and heightened pattern recognition. In order to identify the best strains to fit with your creative purpose, we’ve broken down creative thinking into four subsections.

Creative Imagination deals mostly with divergent thinking by removing barriers and judgment for more free-flowing and effective brainstorming.
Creative Awareness, which sees an increase in pattern recognition, allows for a newfound sensitivity to the aesthetic of the world around you.
Creative Reflection involves looking inwards for self-discovery or memory recollections, which can result in deeper connections of empathy.
Creative Focus helps make ‘out of the box’ connections possible while rumination on a specific, complex problem.

Creative Focus is much more than being able to keep one’s attention on a specific task. Instead, Creative Focus is all about the perception of the here-and-now. Through a newfound sense of hyper-awareness, Creative Focus inspires creative problem solving by helping draw connections between normally unrelated concepts and patterns. Creative Focus comes hand in hand with creative flow. The chosen strains to increase Creative Focus are preferred by scientists, writers, and deep thinkers as the strains not only promote ideation but also promote productivity. Writers express Creative Focus helping them slip into different character perspectives more easily. While, deep thinkers express utilizing Creative Focus to more easily deconstruct patterns they have often overlooked.

Our Analytical Process:

Together, with scientists at Abstraxlabs, we have chemically analyzed hundreds of strains that index high for creativity and other related states through survey data. In this process, we’ve identified a matrix of cannabinoid and terpene profiles that contribute to a specific type of creative impact. This is supported by focus groups and feedback from creative leaders in a wide range of fields.

Lastly, it is important to note that cannabis usage does not guarantee that all your ideas will be the solutions to your problems. The point of Creative Focus is to become more rooted at the task at hand in order to enter a state that promotes successful creative problem solving.

Here are eight cannabis strains to help you free your inner Creative Focus:

How to Dose:

If you know your optimal dosage, then proceed accordingly, but take your time. If you are unsure, start with a small amount and then slowly increase your dosage until you find a level that opens the mind. Research shows that lower doses produce more consistent results salient creative thinking. Cannabis for creativity is meant to enhance the experience, not be the experience...

1. Tropic Thunder

A rare strain as it is perfect for any hour of the day, Tropic Thunder mellows out any bodily discomfort or anxiety in order to help users focus on what’s going on in their head. The notorious head high is particularly known for its hyperactivity and inducing a strong sense of motivation. Tropic Thunder is perfect for easing any nerves or worries while simultaneously keeping users invigorated, euphoric and productive.

2. Durban Poison

Durban Poison often results in a high-energy, mind-racing high. A Durban Poison high will not only enhance social experiences, but it is also a strong aid for those with any kind of social anxiety. Durban Poison can help users, especially those perpetually troubled with depression, PTSD or anxiety, enter a comfortable sense of focus. Due to its heavy cerebral high, Durban Poison is known to increase cerebral activity resulting in lots of general analyzation and problem-solving.

3. Cherry Bomb

Cherry Bomb is notoriously known for its strong cerebral high which is capable of influencing users’ thought patterns and cognitive activity. Within the first inhale, users can expect to more freely enter a free-flowing stream of consciousness. In this way, Cherry Bomb helps make normally unrelated associations between concepts much more of an easier thought process to grasp. A Cherry Bomb high will help users enter the mindset needed to solve seemingly complicated and unsolvable problems.

4. XJ-13

If you’re looking to shut out any and all distractions, then XJ-13 is the strain for you. Numbing the body while simultaneously causing attentiveness and feelings of euphoria, XJ-13 will provide any user the clarity they need to have a productive day. XJ-13’s uplifting high will deliver a clear mindset that’s bound to get your creative juices flowing. Perfect for to wake and bake with, XJ-13 will help people kickstart their day alert, present, and focused.

5. NYC Diesel

Described by some as better than coffee, this popular mostly-Sativa hybrid notoriously provides users with all the energy they need to tackle their day. Perfect for getting users through a busy day, NYC Diesel is known to not only energize but also inspire. The uplifting mood brought on by NYC Diesel is perfect for opening the mind to new perspectives on old ideas.

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6. Tangerine Dream

A Tangerine Dream high begins with a cerebral buzz that soon spreads out into the body leaving a warm and uplifting sensation. Tangerine Dream eliminates stress, anxiety and self-judgement while promoting thought-provoking cerebral activity. Users explain feeling social and motivated making this an excellent day-time strain to partake in. A Tangerine Dream high will provide users with a practical sense of focus leading to a fully functional, productive day.

7. Jack Frost

Widely known for its euphoric high, Jack Frost is described by some of a social strain. However, when smoked alone, users find themselves better able to channel the uplifting feelings of euphoria into hours of productivity without even realizing. Jack Frost has the potential to positively uplift any mood meaning it can revive the spark when people express feeling creatively drained. A Jack Frost high will turn any work into creative playtime.

8. Strawberry Cough

Strawberry Cough’s high can only be described as buzzy and thought-provoking. Not necessarily sending the mind racing, Strawberry Cough helps users enter a deeper state of thinking making creative problem solving much more accessible. A Strawberry Cough high begins with sharp focus that helps users dive into the task at hand. As the high begins to further settle, Strawberry Cough users find themselves thinking in creative and non-traditional ways inducing a highly productive sense of focus.

The Science Behind Cannabis and Creativity:

Cannabis’s ability to stimulate blood flow to the brain’s frontal lobe and allow neurons to fire in a more uninhibited way are just a few of the potential scientific explanations for the creative prowess that cannabis appears to bestow upon people. The frontal lobe is the base for creative, divergent thinking or thinking of multiple solutions to open-ended questions. This is also known as “thinking outside of the box.”

Cannabis is also a creative maximizer in how it deactivates a specific aspect of the brain. One of the biggest inhibitors to creative ideation and divergent thinking is in judging ideas as they emerge, or convergent thinking.

There is a region in the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that is connected to planning, inhibition, and self-censorship as well as cognitive control over emotions. Slowing it down or deactivating that area plays a role in altered states of consciousness such as daydreaming, meditation, and REM sleep (all are patterns of brain activity that can enhance the creative process). Because cannabis can suppress these functions, and allow you to focus more on imagination, ideas tend to flow more freely when using cannabis. For more information check out The Science Behind Cannabis and Creativity.