The nature of my work is such that I spend a good deal of time on the road. Not just traveling, say to spend a few days at a conference or in meetings, but actually on the road, driving from here to there to investigate an accident scene or inspect a home damaged by fire or interview a witness. And because of the area in which I work (a sparsely populated region in a sparsely populated state) that can sometimes mean I spend hours in transit for work that might take 15 minutes.
A couple of weeks ago, I drove three hours, had a meeting with an attorney that lasted 30 minutes, then got back in the car and drove home. The idea of losing six hours of productivity during an extremely busy season in order to drive to that town where thousands flock every summer to prove to themselves that yes, Virginia, there is such a place as the Corn Palace, troubled me. Then someone suggested that I daydream along the way about a writing project I’m working on. I don’t normally favor daydreaming–there are so many other things I could be doing with my time. But as a captive behind the wheel, what else could I do? So I turned off BBC News on the radio and set about to daydreaming.
As my mind wandered the open prairie rolling by for mile after endless mile, a fanciful story unfolded that I am still working to get down on paper, a story that went off in directions that I not only hadn’t expected, but hadn’t believed possible. It surprised me that my thoughts, most often concrete and logical, had gone the direction they had.
In his book, A More Beautiful Question, Warren Berger makes the case for the creative work that can be done by the unconscious mind:
A growing body of research describes what happens when we allow the unconscious mind to work on a problem. Writing recently on the site Big Think, Same McNerney pulled together a number of recent studies showing that sleeping can help people to perform better at solving difficult problems requiring a creative solution. (McNerney quoted an old John Steinbeck line: “A difficult problem at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.”)
Sleeping and daydreaming allow the brain to short-circuit itself, in effect, and help us reach creative solutions we might never have considered otherwise. Berger explains how this works.
Similar research exists on daydreaming and its value in producing original, creative ideas. And everyone knows about the cliched (but only because it’s true) idea-in-the-shower moment. The same neurological forces seem to be at work in all of these instances. The sleeping or relaxed brain cuts off distractions and turns inward, as the right hemisphere becomes more active leading to periods of greater connectivity.
Ever wonder why we recommend Artist Dates to fuel your creativity? According to Berger, walking, long drives (to the Corn Palace, if need be), even doodling or going to visit a museum can create enough of a distraction for the brain.
The point about connective inquiry–and the What If stage in general–is that when you take on a challenging question, if you spend time with that question, your mind will keep working on it.
So what if you tried this? What if you took a new what if question with you on a long drive or a walk in the park, or even to a local museum? What if you let your mind wander around off its leash? Or what if you just went to sleep?
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We’re reading Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas together this month and invite you to read along. We invite you to share your thoughts, observations, and better yet, your questions in the comment box. Here are some questions to get you started:
What if we installed voice recorders in our showers to document the brilliant ideas we get when we have soap in our eyes?
What if we quit work to go take a nap?
Why isn’t my office in a museum?
How are you best able to disconnect your mind?
If you saw our A More Beautiful Question book club announcement post, you know that the author offered to stop by and answer questions you might have, so feel free to drop a question for Warren Berger in the comments, and we’ll ping him on Twitter to let him know we’re here, and invite him into the conversation.
Planned reading schedule for A More Beautiful Question:
March 11: Chapter 1 • The Power of Inquiry and Chapter 2 • Why We Stop Questioning
March 18: Chapter 3 • The Why, What If, and How of Innovative Questioning
March 25: Chapter 4 • Questioning in Business
April 1: Chapter 5 • Questioning for Life
Photo by Sodanie Chea, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by LW Lindquist.
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Donna Z Falcone says
This is a fascinating phenominon. Without even touching on dreams right now I have two things to say … maybe three.
One. I confess, I have not read my homework for this week.
Two. Sandra Heska King told me about a wonderful notepad for the shower, because I had told our memoir group about these great ideas I always have… in the shower… and then forget. All I was left with was the memory of having had a wonderful thought, but the thought was long gone. Sandra… if you are reading this, please tell us again what it was. I bought one, and used it often. In fact, my whole family seemed to enjoy communicating in the shower, but that is another story.
Three. I ‘wrote’ of my favorite songs/meditations/poems came to me as I was driving a long commute. Not quite as long as yours, but long enough for a whole song to fall out.
My experience keeps proving to me that my muse prefers the solitude of sleep or the hypnotic feel of a long drive.
Donna Z Falcone says
LOL… laughing at how I spelled phenomenon.
Will Willingham says
This is one of the hardest things for me to do — to stop trying to crank it out and do the thing that seems unproductive in order to get the mental process to work. But it works. I just never believe it ahead of time. 🙂
Sandra Heska King says
It’s called the AquaNote. Love it! I get great ideas (or what I think are great) in the shower, and if I don’t get them down on paper, they go down the drain.
Sandra Heska King says
Oops. I forgot the link, so linked below… because I just never do it in the right place. This may not even be in the right place.
Donna Z Falcone says
Thank you … loved my Aqua Notes!
Maureen Doallas says
What if we had a wireless device that could capture our dreams at night?
Last week I came across a piece about robots designing themselves and algorithms being used to help robots “think” and make decisions. The article also mentioned that as search engines continue to improve, people’s questions in Google are becoming “lazier”. So my question is, what if our search engines can think of a more beautiful question than we can devise? Will we ever have to ask a question again? What will become of all those questions never asked?
——–
What’s fascinating is that research on mindfulness and meditation also are proving to have wonderful effects.
Will Willingham says
Oh, gosh. I don’t know if I’d want to see that dream recorder. 😉
I just posed the question on search engines to Warren Berger on Twitter. Will be interested to hear what he has to say.
Donna Z Falcone says
Maureen, that’s a fascinating what if… the one about dreams! Not that I’d want to know that much detail (and I may never sleep again if I did) but it’s interesting to think about.
I suddenly had an image of uncountable unanswered questions floating around just waiting to be grabbed from the thin air.
Sandra Heska King says
http://www.myaquanotes.com
Vicki Addesso says
I will get this book ASAP & catch up & join in!
I am at work right now – I am a personal asst/aid and spend a lot of time sitting and waiting, and also driving, & I am always looking for ways to use this kind of time to let writing ideas cook on the back-burner.
Very interested in the idea of naps, daydreaming, down-time, etc. helping fuel creativity. But there is a fine line between using those activities creatively and just being lazy…
I am an expert at lazy & procrastination!
Balance!!!
Will Willingham says
Vicki, one of the examples the author cited was a researcher who will read a handful of articles from various disciplines, and then go relax on the couch and let the ideas “incubate.” Or Google’s scientist-in-residence who will review the information on a particular challenge right before he goes to bed, and then sleeps on it and lets his unconscious mind go to work. I’m fascinated. 🙂
I can totally see where a person who really didn’t want to get after something could use this approach to get nothing done (who, me? ;-). But it seems like this counterintuitive strategy to to intentionally take the mind off the task and see what happens is worth a shot. 🙂
Glad to have you join us. 🙂
Donna Z Falcone says
Hi Vicki! Great that you’re here! 🙂
Elizabeth Marshall says
Vicki, what a treat to have you here.
I love bookclub here.The best discussions, am so enjoying this, but do need to dig back into the rich material, i.e. the book.
That said, I am particularly intetested in this notion of daydreaming, rest and sleep.
How affirming, reassuring and comforting for me to hear the positive attributes of rest. This speaks to me as I have found myself more creative and a better problem solver when I turn off my “thinker”.
I am very intetested to hear more about your writing project. I love the way you lead these discusdions. You seem to ask all the right/best/most stimulating questions.
Could it be that power naps or periods of mind drifting or daydreaming achieve for some what exvercise does for others. Could daydreaming be the go to refueling station that runners achieve from a runner’s high.
Megan Willome says
Just the advice I needed!
Lane M Arnold says
My book just arrived…eager to join in…