Why Periods of Rest are important for creativity

Why you get your best ideas when you least expect them

Shailaja V
2 min readAug 6, 2020
Hands kneading dough and stretching it
Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya on Unsplash

I get my best ideas when I am kneading dough, making tea or (you guessed it) in the shower.

I’m guessing the same is true for you as well.

Over the last 7 years of active blogging, my best ideas haven’t come when I’ve sat down at the laptop and flexed my fingers to write a post on the blog.

The ideas come when my brain is in power-down mode, relaxed, receptive and ready.

The writing itself happens on routine; the ideas appear whenever they can.

So, why does this happen?

According to this article on the Buffer blog, there are a few key components: Distraction, Dopamine and a State of Relaxation.

It’s a very fascinating piece and I urge you to read it.

In my personal experience, I’ve observed that the creative spark has to be naturally allowed to thrive, in an age when our minds and brains are overloaded with information.

The ‘distraction’ the Buffer article references isn’t the kind we get from our devices, by the way. Distraction here is a welcome break from a high-powered intellectual activity that appears to have hit a roadblock.

You’ve seen that happen. When you work very hard, very intently, you end up feeling frustrated when you don’t see progress.

A break from that and a quick walk around the block or making a cup of tea releases your mind from stress and allows it to ruminate on an idea.

One of my favourite examples of this interestingly appears in the movie ‘Men in Black III’ where Will Smith and Josh Brolin are facing a very distinct alien problem and Brolin says that they need pie.

While it’s absolutely hilarious to watch Smith’s reaction to Brolin’s ‘solution’, it’s incredibly true.

Fixate on a problem and it never solves itself; step away and let your mind relax on something completely unrelated and the answer becomes clear.

Factor in periods of rest into your daily work day. Not doing so is a sure recipe for burnout and stress.

And then step back and watch as the solution to a tricky problem slowly, naturally reveals itself.

Take it from Agent K; “If you got a problem you can’t solve, it helps to get out of your head.” Pie. It’s good.”

*Also read this piece by George Kao: Frequent Creative Rest

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Shailaja V
Shailaja V

Written by Shailaja V

Digital minimalist. Writer. Bibliophile. Vegan. Walking is my meditation.

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