Analysis backs up her expertise: One study1 tasked individuals with copying cellphone numbers from a listing for quarter-hour to stimulate boredom; then they requested these people to provide you with totally different makes use of for a pair of cups—a job that may give them an opportunity to show their creativity.
The outcomes? The “bored” group got here up with considerably extra artistic concepts than the management group. Researchers theorized that individuals would daydream through the passive, boring job, which in the end led to extra creativity.
That’s why Rubin recommends letting your thoughts wander and faucet into your unconscious for not less than a couple of minutes per day, whether or not you’re on a stroll, at a museum, or, yep, within the bathe. “I do not know that I might have an excellent perception if I walked round listening to a podcast,” she notes. “As a lot as I really like listening to podcasts, I might have been occupied with regardless of the podcast was about.”
So when you’re hoping to spark some new, authentic ideas, you would possibly wish to keep away from any form of psychological stimulation. “You want this open-searching time to ensure that new concepts to bubble up,” she provides. “That is why folks get concepts within the bathe or in the course of the night time—it is a downtime the place then the mind creates its personal enjoyable.”