How ‘focused distraction’ leads to greater creativity
Hands up if you’ve been in a job where you’ve been told you need to find ways to do more work in less time?
For those who are currently riding the treadmill of working life, it’s part of the employment game for expectations of us to increase each year. We either need to achieve more with the same resources or our resources are cut, and we have to find ways to get the same amount of work done with less.
Whatever the reason, we often are asked to get more done. The commonly held view is that distraction is one of the prime enemies of human productivity. So, to get more done, we need hunt down and kill any distractions that take us off task. Right?
Not so says Michael Roberto in his book Unlocking Creativity: How to solve any problem and make the best decisions by shifting creative mindsets. He argues that where your output relies heavily on your creativity, such as solving a problem you’ve not seen before, there is a limit to how productive you can be before you need to recharge.
It takes considerable energy and focus to be creative, so breaks are essential to keep up your ‘productivity’, particularly where you hit a roadblock. The brain is an excellent energy conservation unit, and where there’s a heavy drain on its available energy, it slows down to keep the rest of the body functioning.
According to Roberto, when you’re doing creative work, the most productive recovery strategy is focused distractions.
Focused distractions are where you take a pause on the creative work you’re focused on and allow your subconscious mind to get some deep work done. It’s a distraction from your main task in that you stop consciously working on it, but it’s focused and productive because it keeps your subconscious ticking over.
Have you ever had an idea flash into your mind while exercising, or talking with a friend or colleague?
That’s what this is all about. It’s thinking without thinking.
When you next hit a roadblock working on a creative task, try these focused distractions to help you quickly recharge and find inspiration:
Walk and talk – take a walk in a park with a friend or colleague. Ask them to be your listening partner. No advice just listening to what you have to say. The act of talking can create shifts and connections in you thinking that being silent can’t achieve.
Get a pump on – go for a run, take an exercise class or hit the gym. Increasing blood flow to your brain recharges it allowing you to come back to your creative task refreshed. Some of my best ideas have come riding a bike or while at the gym.
Active meditation – reducing the noise buzz in your mind is like hitting the reset button on the computer. I’ve taken to using a Shakti matt to meditate. I often find I fall asleep trying to meditate and this ‘small bed of nails’ keeps me awake and gives a crazy good massage at the same time.
Creative switch – when you’re in the creative zone of thinking, it often helps to take a break from one creative task and shift to another. Like playing a musical instrument, drawing or creating art on the computer. I find a 10-minute creative switch is enough to recharge and refocus.