In an age where every minute is devoted to productivity, the attitude of “doing nothing” may seem incomprehensible, even extreme. Our awareness of creativity is the way we imagine it, success is tied to continuous effort and activity and endless creation. This form of temperament, which may seem deceptive, ignores the main key to how to produce creative thinking or creative people, and that key is called the “power of relaxation.”
It may sound funny, but some of the most creative people in the history of the world, who created innovative and timeless inventions for us, recognized the power of doing nothing and took advantage of it. Our fast-paced societies, which are always active in various fields and still do not have the ability to answer various questions, have neglected the vital element called “peace” and throw themselves into water and fire to achieve creativity.
These statements are not baseless philosophical insights or even observations, but are supported by careful research by researchers. A growing body of evidence shows that taking some time to relax and step away from productivity can help boost and promote creativity.
This fact has fundamental consequences; Not only can rest be useful for watering our creativity-free minds, but also useful for societies like Asian countries, which frequently seek productivity and from their point of view, inactivity is the wrong approach.
memory and its decline; How to prevent memory loss?
To find the answer to the title of the article, we dived into the sea of science to understand the reason why individual creativity can be restored through rest, the difficult conditions of societies in creating creativity, and to examine how one of the most innovative inventors in history, Thomas Edison, used the method of “doing nothing”. He followed and reached creativity.
It’s time to challenge the paradox of productivity and understand why, in the temple of creativity, doing nothing can sometimes be the most productive thing one can do.
A look at knowledge
As mentioned, the symbiotic relationship between creativity and rest is not just a subjective observation, and researchers’ research shows that our brain makes the most connection between creativity during rest and naps.
One of the important and trending studies conducted by Braid and his colleagues and published in Psychological Science points to the negative impact of distraction and confusion on creativity. The people who participated in this study were given tasks based on creative thinking and then divided into several groups.
One group was assigned easy and simple tasks to solve during a break before addressing the main problem. Surprisingly, this group was able to show brilliant performance compared to other groups. The performance results of this group proved that rest can have a positive effect on creativity and problem solving.
5 signs that reveal your sensitive personality
But it is not only rest that can improve the achievement of creativity. A 2014 study by Oppezzo and Schwartz, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, found that walking indoors and outdoors boosts ideation and creativity. This study also proved that creativity can flourish through physical activities.
Further research into default brain networks shows that a network of interactive brain regions is activated during rest and dreaming. Thoughts play a vital role in the cognitive functions of the brain such as: imagining, seeing the future and understanding the vision of others, and the default state of the brain network can also play a vital role in this activity.
Anecdotal research suggests that flexibility in the default state of the brain network may be associated with a greater capacity for creative thought, adding another layer of understanding to the communication of creativity at rest. The science behind creativity and relaxation challenges the hypothesis that activities that require constant focus can be the key to innovation. But instead, it focuses on the importance of balance and times of rest that can open the door to creativity.
But what would it be like to achieve creativity through rest? When we look at the innovative and creative people of the world, we come across “Thomas Edison” who sweetly turns unexpected theories into unbelievable realities.
Thomas Edison; An enduring face that proved the power of rest to us
Information from the life of Thomas Edison
- Date of birth: February 11, 1847
- place of birth: Milan, Ohio, USA.
- Educational background: self-reading education; Edison’s schooling was denied by his illness, but his mother, a former teacher, tutored him.
- Important inventions: tape recorder, heat lamp, electric generator, distribution system, improvements in telegraph and telephone performance, Kintograph, known as the first motion capture camera.
- Number of patents: 1,093 patents were registered for his inventions.
- resume: The founder of companies such as Edison Illuminating, which was later renamed to General Electric, and Edison Moion Picture Patents.
Important information about Thomas Edison
- Thomas Edison is known for his hard work. His motivational speech with the content “1% is considered for inspiration and genius and 99% of the rest is a lot of effort” continues to attract the attention of the people of the world.
- Thomas Edison is known as a tireless person with an entrepreneurial spirit.
- Some biographers and historians have stated that Edison suffered from ADHD, and weakness in studies, constant curiosity and a tendency towards extracentrism can be among these reasons. However, ADHD was not discovered during Edison’s lifetime; Hence, many statements are hypothetical
During his lifetime, Edison reported that he had discovered a new method of harnessing the potential for relaxation, which he referred to as “sleepiness,” the short interval between wakefulness and sleep. During this state, our minds make unusual connections that eventually lead to ideas.
How do microplastics affect our lives?
To achieve creativity, Edison would sit on a chair or couch and hold 2 metal balls in his hands while there was a metal tray under the two arms of the chair. When he slowly falls asleep, two metal balls fall from his hands on the tray and the sound created wakes up Edison and Edison writes the ideas created in his mind after dreaming; Because, after waking up, thoughts, imaginations and ideas are quickly cleared from the mind.
This exercise shows how Edison used the power of relaxation and rest to enhance the power of creativity. Although, according to many people, doing nothing is a sign of lack of productivity and functionality, but contrary to this attitude, Edison proved that “doing nothing” for a certain period of time can be vital in the process of creating innovative ideas.
But this philosophy of creativity relies on the mutual interaction of activity and rest, which seems strange in today’s human societies that have a vital need for productivity.
social problems
In societies where success is equated only with productivity and business, we face a cultural and economic bias that values constant work and productivity more than rest. This pervasive characteristic can turn into the stigmatization of “rest” and people refer to it as laziness and even unemployment, and even people with ADHD are at risk.
Creativity thrives on thinking differently, making unique connections with people, and imagining things that other people aren’t ready to surface. However, the pressure of the society to maintain the appearance of economy and productivity causes the creative people of the society to be in the bracket of constant busyness, which will cause the loss of potential.
Finally, although creating a balance between work and rest cannot meet the expectations of modern countries, but note that creativity is an unforgettable element in human life, without which, the routine of life would be strange and scary, boring and monotonous. will be; Therefore, if you are interested in differentiating the repetitive life of people and your own life and improving the quality of your life and career, it is better to establish balance in your life.
RCO NEWS