How to Become More Curious (and Why You Should Do It)

Curiosity is often described as something “natural”: a trait that some people (and animals) have from birth. But it’s not that simple.

Curiosity is also a skill. Like other skills, it comes easier to some people than others, and with some effort it can be improved over time. If you’re interested in developing your curiosity, which is also an increasingly in-demand career skill, here are some ways to do it.

How to become more curious

Whether you consider yourself “naturally” curious or not, these strategies can help jumpstart that type of thinking:

Find out what motivates you

Or perhaps a better way to look at it is to figure out what really excites you, brings you some level of joy or even satisfaction. Is there something that makes you completely lose track of time because you’re so interested in it? If yes, explore it further and try to learn something new. This, at least in theory, should allow you to experience a sense of curiosity about something and better understand how you got there.

To ask questions

If you’re not in the habit of asking questions as a way to keep a conversation going, it may feel weird or intrusive at first, even if they’re not about something personal. So when the time, place and topic are right, try asking someone questions to find out more about something. Keep your questions open-ended and go deeper into the topic by asking “why.”

Go explore

Being stuck in a routine can leave little room for curiosity. It’s easy to let our brains go into autopilot and shut down any new thoughts. Luckily, there are several ways to work around this problem.

First, you can tune in (rather than tune out) during certain activities, such as your commute. Perhaps instead of listening to a podcast, you’re paying attention to what you’re going through along the way, trying to spot things you’ve never noticed before. If something new or unfamiliar catches your attention, you may be wondering what it is, how long it has been around, etc.

Another strategy is to change the situation and take a different route to work, for example. Again, pay attention to your surroundings and you may come across something that piques your interest and makes you really want to learn more. Once you get into the habit of observing your surroundings, noticing new things, and then learning about them, you may find yourself doing it out of habit.