As excited as we are about the work we’re doing, we also want to practice what we preach! Significant research in psychology and neuroscience have demonstrated that rest and sleep are not only critical for brain function, but also creativity.
The Critical Role of Sleep in Creativity
Sleep is not only vital to our overall cognitive function, but also for creativity. Getting enough sleep is critical for replenishing our attentional resources and the consolidation and flexible reorganization of memories. In particular, researchers argue that creativity thought is enabled by the interplay between REM and non-REM stages of sleep, which together support the formation and restructuring of complex knowledge frameworks (Lewis, Knoblich, & Poe, 2018). Many studies have shown that people’s ability to solve complex, creative problems is enhanced by sleep (even a nap!) The holiday season offers an ideal time to catch up on sleep, allowing the brain to process and weave together creative ideas.
Letting go, and Letting the Mind Wander Intentionally
A study by the University of Illinois (Lleras, 2011) found that brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve one's ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods. During breaks, our brain continues to process and connect complex ideas. Periods of rest following creative effort, or creative incubation, have long been thought to be a critical component of the creative process, during which defocused attention and/or engaging in unrelated tasks appear facilitate creative idea generation (Sio & Ormerod, 2009). Indeed, letting one’s mind wander can be very cognitively beneficial for creativity, particularly during the incubation period (Baird et al., 2012). In a study of creative writers and scientists, participants reported that many of their best creative ideas occurred to them when their minds were wandering while engaged in another task (Gable et al., 2019).
Importantly, not all mind wandering may be equally beneficial for creativity. Research suggests that when we’re burnt out and our capacity for cognitive control is depleted, our minds are more likely to wander unintentionally, which harms our productivity. On the other hand, intentional mind wandering, especially while doing a moderately engaging task such as walking, cooking, or socializing, appears to be helpful for improving creativity (Irving et al., 2022).