Love this newsletter--this research helps reframe those unfocused moments (weeks! Months!). Also, I cannot recommend the book Rest highly enough. It totally changed how I view the relationship between work and rest... And made me a devoted napper;)
Do you do the New York Times Spelling Bee? I find SO much of the time that when I put it down and go do just about ANYTHING else for a few minutes, that’s when the words come to me that I couldn’t find when I was staring at the puzzle.
same!! love the spelling bee. it reminds me of how maddening/comforting it is that simply walking away and going back to something later can be incredibly useful.
Yup, most of my ideas come to me when I'm calm, quiet and driving or walking 👍 Also... two thirds of men... really?! They must be really dumb! Just saying 🤣
Seems so odd to me that anyone would choose to endure that kind of pain, rather than be alone with their thoughts for a while! What's going on in their heads that it is that unbearable! 🤔
How often do you get the chance to give yourself painful, but not deadly, electrical shocks? Probably not often. I can see it being a much more interesting and novel experience than sitting quietly for 15 minutes, which you can do whenever wherever. Then you also have something interesting to talk about in response to "What did you do today?" I am a very curious person. I have lots of questions about the shocks and could daydream later.
I'd be interested in whether they gave everyone a shock first and then allowed them to choose quiet or more shocks, and if the people who gave themselves shocks got to end earlier than the people who had to sit and whether the people who got to sit quietly knew how long they had to sit or if they were going to sit between 6-15 minutes.
I have always loved taking a long walk and letting my mind wander. Lately I noticed that I when I go for walks, I bring my headphones to listen to a podcast. I'm trying to remember to leave the headphones at home sometimes and just... walk and be with myself.
daydreaming is essential to me; when I let my mind relax, I'm often pleasantly surprised at new perspectives or solutions that come to mind. Also, I mostly fact check for work these days, and I gotta take breaks in between learning and just give my brain some free flow time. daydreaming seems counterintuitive to productivity, but it can boost it and besides there is more to me than productivity. I'm not a bot! if I've learned anything in my 46 years on this earth, it is that life is full of change, and so capitalism's insistence on productivity and regularity is always going to rub up against reality.
also, Melinda, this is reminding me of some research that I've read about before showing I think that a lot of the Nobel prize winners had lots of different interests? kinda similar idea at play?
Thanks for this evidence behind the power of taking a break. Swimming and walking usually give me the next step I need on hard problems. I’ve come to rely on those times rather than powering through on dwindling brain power. Adding Rest to my TBR!
One thing I think the "more effort = more output" crowd overlooks is how much work our subconscious does ALL THE TIME without any apparent effort. A lot of my "productive daydreaming" (yes, often in the shower) seems to involve letting connections of ideas I've been ruminating on rise to the surface. A few hours a day of "feeding in" & organizing ideas (e.g., reading, focused work, editing and organizing) is often enough to "keep the gears turning", as it were.
This really resonated with me:
"Everybody focuses on the most obvious, measurable forms of work and tries to make those more effective and more productive."
Love this newsletter--this research helps reframe those unfocused moments (weeks! Months!). Also, I cannot recommend the book Rest highly enough. It totally changed how I view the relationship between work and rest... And made me a devoted napper;)
Do you do the New York Times Spelling Bee? I find SO much of the time that when I put it down and go do just about ANYTHING else for a few minutes, that’s when the words come to me that I couldn’t find when I was staring at the puzzle.
Whoa fascinating! I have actually never tried the Spelling Bee 😂
same!! love the spelling bee. it reminds me of how maddening/comforting it is that simply walking away and going back to something later can be incredibly useful.
Yup, most of my ideas come to me when I'm calm, quiet and driving or walking 👍 Also... two thirds of men... really?! They must be really dumb! Just saying 🤣
That gender difference was something else, right?!
Seems so odd to me that anyone would choose to endure that kind of pain, rather than be alone with their thoughts for a while! What's going on in their heads that it is that unbearable! 🤔
How often do you get the chance to give yourself painful, but not deadly, electrical shocks? Probably not often. I can see it being a much more interesting and novel experience than sitting quietly for 15 minutes, which you can do whenever wherever. Then you also have something interesting to talk about in response to "What did you do today?" I am a very curious person. I have lots of questions about the shocks and could daydream later.
I'd be interested in whether they gave everyone a shock first and then allowed them to choose quiet or more shocks, and if the people who gave themselves shocks got to end earlier than the people who had to sit and whether the people who got to sit quietly knew how long they had to sit or if they were going to sit between 6-15 minutes.
I have always loved taking a long walk and letting my mind wander. Lately I noticed that I when I go for walks, I bring my headphones to listen to a podcast. I'm trying to remember to leave the headphones at home sometimes and just... walk and be with myself.
daydreaming is essential to me; when I let my mind relax, I'm often pleasantly surprised at new perspectives or solutions that come to mind. Also, I mostly fact check for work these days, and I gotta take breaks in between learning and just give my brain some free flow time. daydreaming seems counterintuitive to productivity, but it can boost it and besides there is more to me than productivity. I'm not a bot! if I've learned anything in my 46 years on this earth, it is that life is full of change, and so capitalism's insistence on productivity and regularity is always going to rub up against reality.
also, Melinda, this is reminding me of some research that I've read about before showing I think that a lot of the Nobel prize winners had lots of different interests? kinda similar idea at play?
Ohhh cool! Thanks! Reminds me too of the research that finds that most professional athletes didn't specialize in a sport early....
yes!!
Thanks for this evidence behind the power of taking a break. Swimming and walking usually give me the next step I need on hard problems. I’ve come to rely on those times rather than powering through on dwindling brain power. Adding Rest to my TBR!
This was a lovely and insightful synthesis.
One thing I think the "more effort = more output" crowd overlooks is how much work our subconscious does ALL THE TIME without any apparent effort. A lot of my "productive daydreaming" (yes, often in the shower) seems to involve letting connections of ideas I've been ruminating on rise to the surface. A few hours a day of "feeding in" & organizing ideas (e.g., reading, focused work, editing and organizing) is often enough to "keep the gears turning", as it were.
This really resonated with me:
"Everybody focuses on the most obvious, measurable forms of work and tries to make those more effective and more productive."