“…if you’re trying to do creative work, you’ll actually have more luck when you’re more tired and your brain isn’t functioning as efficiently. This sounds crazy, but it actually makes sense when you look at the reasoning behind it… If you’re tired, your brain is not as good at filtering out distractions and focusing on a particular task. It’s also a lot less efficient at remembering connections between ideas or concepts. These are both good things when it comes to creative work, since this kind of work requires us to make new connections, be open to new ideas and think in new ways. So a tired, fuzzy brain is much more use to us when working on creative projects.”
Belle Beth Cooper here on Buffer.
OSS implementations tend to throw new challenges at you all the time don’t they? And new challenges generally require creative solutions. I’ve always been at a loss when trying to figure out why my best creative thoughts seem to come late into the evenings. Lateral ideas for these blogs and other consultancies always seem to flow more easily in the hours around midnight than at any other time of day (it’s nearly 12:30am as I write this blog BTW). I had always just put it down to lack of distractions. That’s partly the case, but the article above indicates that we’re more able to create new neural pathways with tired, fuzzy brains.
Conversely, I wonder if those with a 9 to 5 mentality, those who leave all work-related thoughts behind when they leave the workplace each night, don’t ever have the chance to tackle problems with tired, fuzzy, creative brains?
Does the quoted research resonate with you? Do you also get your more creative ideas when you’re on the verge of falling asleep?
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2 Responses
I do identify strongly with this arrival, and was happy to read it, I now think I may not be going nuts after all.
Nah, you’re still going nuts Laurence…. but it is interesting research isn’t it? 🙂