#ThinkfullyHabit: Daydream more
Neuroscientists have linked alpha brain waves (the slow, electrical activity in the brain) to an increase in Click Thinking moments – that 'ah-ha!' when ideas suddenly come together in a ‘click’.
While we can’t make these happen on demand, we can help ourselves by finding enough time when our minds can wander and we are truly task-free.
We should relish daydreaming and smile to ourselves when it happens. And importantly, find more opportunities to look out of the window with nothing in particular to do!
WHY?
One of the most exciting discoveries in neuroscience in the past decade is that the brain is never truly at rest. Our brains are active, even when we are passive. In fact, professors Adam Waytz and Malia Mason believe that having unfocussed free time is one of the most important and under used factors in getting to breakthroughs*.
This raises interesting considerations on how we value our time in the workplace. For example, you might have heard of Google's "20% Time" policy where employees are allowed to work on whatever they want. However, even this may actually be missing the mark. To be truly 'task-free' we need to be totally detached from activities that require concentrated effort.
“Mind-wandering isn’t a passive state as it may seem from the outside. Instead, it can consist of racing thoughts, deep consideration, and interesting associations.”
It's important to value your 'task-free' time as much as your 'task-focussed' time. It's less about switching-off, but switching-to a different mode of thinking that could lead to new breakthroughs and ideas.