Boost your creativity by taking a break

As someone who works in the area of learning and teaching, I have long been interested in how learning and productivity take place. Here’s a scenario for you to consider - Have you ever had the experience of being so drawn into distractions like trying to solve the daily Wordle or engrossed in a debate with a colleague on the best sushi in town, literally anything other than the work you are meant to be focused on? It happens to all of us, from time to time. When we get to this point, taking a step toward refocusing can be tough. All too often, we end up clicking on the next clickbait to distract us further or convince ourselves that we just need to “buckle” down and don’t look up until the task or job is done. Does this sound at all familiar?

How might we get out this predicament? According to learning experts, we have two routes we can go. We can either pull out of the distraction and refocus our attention to give full concentration on the work at hand or to actually embrace the distraction. You might be thinking how do two diametrically opposed options allow you to achieve the same result of getting out of distraction?

According to neuroscience, we actually can draw on two modes of thinking. We can refocus and give full concentration through a focused mode of thinking or by giving way to the distraction, we can embrace our diffuse mode of thinking. Although they are different, both approaches provide us a way to get out of our distraction and unproductive rut and most importantly out of any negative talk that might be happening internally.

Refocusing and getting laser focused on a singular task might be our default to help us be focused again. This can be most useful to allow us to zone in on pertinent information. This is especially important when we are learning something that is brand new to us. Focused thinking is great for helping us build new initial skills.

However, diffuse thinking has its advantages. In diffuse thinking, we don’t zone in on any particular information or tasks. It is when we allow our minds to wander freely. When we do this, often connections come up that help us creatively resolve a problem and ultimately help us from being stuck or constantly distracted and avoiding the issue. Diffuse thinking allows us to focus on the big picture – the 30,000 feet view of the situation or problem.

Added to this diffuse thinking allows our brain the opportunity to consider all the information we have. It is how we connect dots and exercise “out of the box” thinking. That’s why some of our best ideas and creativity comes when we are having a shower or out for a run. Essentially doing anything other than more focussed work.

Our greatest creativity and problem-solving happen when we are thinking diffusely!

This is why taking a break from studying or "sleeping on it" can actually lead to important breakthroughs. While your conscious mind is relaxed, your brain is able to work in the background to form creative solutions to a problem.

A helpful metaphor to understand focussed and diffuse thinking is considering the flashlight. Often flashlights come with two options – you can use the concentrated beam of light option that only illuminates a small area very brightly or you set the flashlight to the less concentrated beam that illuminates a much broader area with more diffuse light.

With focused thinking, your brain processes very specific information deeply; with diffuse thinking, the brain analyzes much more information at once but in less depth. Just like both flashlights options will help you see in the dark, both modes of thinking are important. Which one will work better for you simply depends on whether you want to see the big picture or see the details.

So the next time, you are feeling stuck – take that break, go for a walk, have a bath, listen to some music, sleep on it - you might just find the solution that was eluding you.

Written by : Shailoo Bedi, Associate Coach, Inspired Results Group