#ThinkfullyHabit: Lighten up
When was the last time you laughed out loud? Had a deep smile to yourself? Shared a good old chuckle with a colleague?
Researchers have discovered that we laugh less as an adult than we used to as a child - on average children laugh 400 times a day, while adults laugh about 15 times a day*!
Humour actually helps our brains and has been found to increase the chances of having an 'ah-ha!' moment.
“At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.”
WHY?
Research has found that improving the mood of people through comedy increases the chances of having an 'ah-ha!' moment. Those who watched a comedy ahead of being given a task, performed far better at problem solving compared to those who watched a horror film, or a lecture about quantum electronics beforehand**.
It turns out that being in a positive mood helps prepare the brain to find novel solutions. A study found that many of the games used in improvisational comedy training could be effectively adapted to idea generation because they strongly promoted 'associative thinking' - and that it increased idea output by 37% on average in a subsequent product brainstorming sessions***.
When we create new patterns, the neural pathways in our brains plot more meandering paths which can lead to novel ideas.