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The Perfect Conditions for a Great Idea
An idle mind is not a lazy mind
I’m not generally good at doing nothing. I’m a time-management and productivity expert, and I also have five children; I’m almost never idle. But I was recently reminded how sometimes you have to create a little idleness in order to let a new idea in. On a beach trip, I was technically “doing something” as I waded in the waves, but navigating the breakers required very little attention. So my mind wandered — right to a solution for a problem I’d been ruminating on for weeks. There it was in my mind, clearly worded and ready to be typed up.
I’d accidentally created the perfect environment for a great idea. I was engaging in just enough activity to stimulate my brain but not so much that my idea needed to compete with other thoughts.
“Think back to when your most brilliant insight struck you — chances are you weren’t focused on anything,” says Chris Bailey, author of the book Hyperfocus: How to Manage Your Attention in a World of Distraction. After studying the brain’s default mode, he coined the term “scatterfocus” to describe the act of purposefully letting the mind wander. Doing so “makes us remarkably more creative, and even more productive,” he says.
The key is to build (to literally schedule, if that’s what it takes) a few more idle moments into life — knowing that idleness and getting stuff done aren’t in opposition. Idleness IS getting stuff done.
Idle and lazy mean two different things
“Idle” and “lazy” are two very different concepts, with very little overlap. “Think of it this way — a fisherman is often idle while still at work,” says Celeste Headlee, author of the new book Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving. “The same is true for a toll booth operator or security guard. Idleness means inactivity, while laziness means reluctance to work. Can a person be idle because they’re lazy? Of course, but a person can be working while idle and active while not working.”
