https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/42/5/767/18559...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21875228/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ5rx5lDIoc

https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Constraints-Breakthrough-P...

If you google constraints and creativity you will find an endless sea of research.

> I wonder how we could teach ourselves these lessons (without injury, of course).

There's a wide-ranging and productive history of people expanding their creative capacity through self-imposed constraints.

http://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Constraints-The-Psychology-...