Forbes Magazine recently published an interview with Andrew Smart, author of Autopilot: The Art & Science of Doing Nothing, in which he explained that all that multi-tasking, so beloved of the modern age, is detrimental to our creative side. Those who study these kinds of things tell us that brain activity is measured by blood flow to the brain and the amount of oxygen the blood carries. Scientists have learned that when the brain is engaged in a specific task, like solving a math problem, activity in certain brain regions is suppressed. They have also found that those same regions, become super active when not focussed on a specific task. Conclusion? An idle brain is healthier, happier and more creative than its busy counterpart.
In order to have those flashes of inspiration that create music, write poetry or invent a new product, we must have time for day-dreaming.
Furthermore, science now believes that idleness is essential to good health. Just like sleep deprivation makes a person sick, idleness deprivation will make our brains ill. Perhaps that's why companies like Google provide rest areas, play areas and a lax dress code for their employees. The old, rigid model of turning employees into robots who follow orders has failed.
Since my life, both secular and religious, has been filled with warnings about idleness, I am intrigued. Yet even Einstein claimed that he never made a discovery or learned anything new from his "thinking" brain. All of his great ideas, that is inspirations, came from his creative mind, available only through mental idleness. When we are constantly thinking, we get in the way of original thought.
Huh!
Doing nothing is actually good? Wow! That's turning conventional wisdom on its head. I can just hear all the school teachers and parents among us grinding their teeth. "Johnny will never amount to anything if he doesn't buckle down to work and stop day-dreaming!"
Of course, science is only catching up with what history has told us all along. Among the factors at work in the flowering of art during Renaissance in Europe was an increase in leisure time, brought about by more wealth. People who didn't have to spend every waking minute preparing and growing food, had idle time in which to dream of great art.
Furthermore, science now believes that idleness is essential to good health. Just like sleep deprivation makes a person sick, idleness deprivation will make our brains ill. Perhaps that's why companies like Google provide rest areas, play areas and a lax dress code for their employees. The old, rigid model of turning employees into robots who follow orders has failed.
Since my life, both secular and religious, has been filled with warnings about idleness, I am intrigued. Yet even Einstein claimed that he never made a discovery or learned anything new from his "thinking" brain. All of his great ideas, that is inspirations, came from his creative mind, available only through mental idleness. When we are constantly thinking, we get in the way of original thought.
Huh!
Doing nothing is actually good? Wow! That's turning conventional wisdom on its head. I can just hear all the school teachers and parents among us grinding their teeth. "Johnny will never amount to anything if he doesn't buckle down to work and stop day-dreaming!"
Of course, science is only catching up with what history has told us all along. Among the factors at work in the flowering of art during Renaissance in Europe was an increase in leisure time, brought about by more wealth. People who didn't have to spend every waking minute preparing and growing food, had idle time in which to dream of great art.
The Romantic poets were famed for their rambles, purposeless walking. They weren't counting steps or taking their pulse rate or attempting to knock minutes off their time. They were taking themselves on a walking daydream. Thus Wordsworth saw his "crowd/ a host of golden daffodils."
When I first took up writing with the intent of publication, I met a multi-published author who described her writing process. It began with lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling, while dirty dishes piled up on the sink, dirty clothes piled up in the laundry room, and dust bunnies multiplied under the bed. When her hard-working, rancher husband asked what in the world she was doing she replied, "I'm working!"
So now that science has given us permission to slack off from the busyness of our lives and go day-dreaming, how do we use this newly granted freedom?
I rather like that staring-at-the-ceiling thing, but my mind does tend to make lists of chores instead of roving freely in the land of imagination. There is also the danger of just falling asleep.
I've found certain, repetitive activities make space for day-dreaming. Kneading bread, for example, keeps the blood flowing, but does not require a lot of concentration, leaving room for those flashes of brilliance. Hoeing the garden does require enough concentration to separate the weeds from the potatoes, but it still leaves plenty of idle mind available for inspiration. Vacations are good, so long as they're not filled with activities and timetables. Lying on the beach gazing at clouds is a time-honoured cue for the idle mind. I find air travel, too, can produce that half-aware state that frees to mind to roam in the land of make-believe.
So, what about you? Are you an inveterate planner, plotter, chart-maker, and spread-sheet whiz or do you sometimes have an idle mind? When are you at your most creative? When do ideas pop into your head and surprise you?
Alice Valdal wishes to apologize to all the day-dreamers, chastised in school, who grew up to change the world.
www.alicevaldal.com
When I first took up writing with the intent of publication, I met a multi-published author who described her writing process. It began with lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling, while dirty dishes piled up on the sink, dirty clothes piled up in the laundry room, and dust bunnies multiplied under the bed. When her hard-working, rancher husband asked what in the world she was doing she replied, "I'm working!"
So now that science has given us permission to slack off from the busyness of our lives and go day-dreaming, how do we use this newly granted freedom?
I rather like that staring-at-the-ceiling thing, but my mind does tend to make lists of chores instead of roving freely in the land of imagination. There is also the danger of just falling asleep.
I've found certain, repetitive activities make space for day-dreaming. Kneading bread, for example, keeps the blood flowing, but does not require a lot of concentration, leaving room for those flashes of brilliance. Hoeing the garden does require enough concentration to separate the weeds from the potatoes, but it still leaves plenty of idle mind available for inspiration. Vacations are good, so long as they're not filled with activities and timetables. Lying on the beach gazing at clouds is a time-honoured cue for the idle mind. I find air travel, too, can produce that half-aware state that frees to mind to roam in the land of make-believe.
So, what about you? Are you an inveterate planner, plotter, chart-maker, and spread-sheet whiz or do you sometimes have an idle mind? When are you at your most creative? When do ideas pop into your head and surprise you?
Alice Valdal wishes to apologize to all the day-dreamers, chastised in school, who grew up to change the world.
www.alicevaldal.com
Published books:
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling us. I've always found this to be true in experience. It's good to see that it's beginning to be recognised in the world of science.
I always find that when I stop thinking about a problem with my book, I always find the solution. Especially while watching dishes or folding laundry. It is amazing how much better my brain often 'thinks' while doing nothing! Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteAh, folding laundry. Now that's an activity that leaves lots of mental space for inspiration. Do you iron too?
DeleteGreat post. Shared.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine
DeleteNo ironing. (I confess I don't even own an iron! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I get ideas when walking and when I am getting ready for sleep. The second is not always the most convenient time as it keeps me awake when I want the brain to switch off. While reading poetry I will often get an idea for a poem of my own.
ReplyDeleteLOVE it!!! No more guilt. Thanks Alice. Yes, I go gardening
ReplyDeletewhen I'm thinking through plots etc. Also a long bath is very productive. I didn't realize we're all such clever, scientific people to have made this a part of our lifestyles!
Let's hear it for no more guilt! For years I complained that I didn't lack physical time for writing but I seemed to lack mental space. now I know why -- I was afraid of the idle mind. Not any more!
DeleteI find this intriguing. I day-dream in the shower talking to imaginary characters. I find multi-tasking brain numbing. When I return home from work it is hard to find the creative side of my brain because of all the multi-tasking required on my job. I make list to released all the things circulating in my brain so they can be addressed one at a time. I am a combination of plotter and panster. Once the initial idea is down on paper I can plot where it is going and flesh out characters. Idle time helps me be the most productive and creative in those early stages.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on list-making. If find writing down all that hamster-wheel stuff in my head very calming. Once it's on the list, I don't have to keep thinking about it, and there's more space for the idle mind. :-)
DeleteAlice, great post! I've always been a daydreamer, and I've found taking writing breaks to do mundane tasks like housework provides an opportunity for thinking time :)
ReplyDeleteI resonate with that. I plan out my books, fiction and nonfiction, but plotting of my fiction takes place after I go to bed and just let my mind wander --- and hope I remember it the next morning!
ReplyDeleteAs a side issue, there is an interesting book out called "The Myth of Multi-Tasking" which demonstrates how multi-tasking (so called) is an inefficient time-waster.
Must look for the book. I did read somewhere that we don't really multi-task, i.e. do more than one thing at the same time, we just jump really fast from one thing to another and back again -- kind of like a demented flea. ;-)
ReplyDelete