{"id":17271,"date":"2020-01-14T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T09:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/?p=17271"},"modified":"2023-11-22T00:12:07","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T23:12:07","slug":"sleep-and-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/sleep-and-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep and creativity \u2013 Finding creative solutions in your dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Problems? Sleep on it.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Those who look for creative solutions better go to bed on time. Sleep, as it turns out, is the secret weapon of creative minds. Dreams stood at the basis of many creative ideas and some shuteye might well help you solve that seemingly impossible problem at work…<\/em><\/p>\n

If it\u2019s creative solutions you\u2019re after, embrace craziness <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Great ideas often seem ridiculous at first glance. The more original an idea is, the stranger it will look. Therefore, those who are looking for creative solutions should really postpone their judgment<\/u><\/a>. Premature criticism can crush potentially brilliant solutions. It doesn\u2019t really matter if this criticism comes from a colleague, a manager or that annoying voice in your head.<\/p>\n

Ideas usually need some time to ripen. Brilliant solutions often start as rough (often even completely unrealistic) ideas. By shooting down these flawed ideas, you block all sorts of promising directions in advance.<\/p>\n

Creative problem-solvers understand this. They recognise the importance of embracing weird ideas<\/u><\/a>. Seemingly crazy suggestions regularly spark amazing solutions.<\/p>\n

Quite a challenge…<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Unfortunately, embracing craziness is not easy. Even if you are aware that wild ideas are important, it\u2019s quite a challenge to share strange ideas with others or to seriously consider something that appears to be insane. Even COMING UP with wild(ly original) ideas turns out to be bloody difficult. It\u2019s no coincidence that the sentence \u201cI\u2019m just not very creative<\/em>\u201d is common in offices everywhere.<\/p>\n

This natural aversion to odd ideas makes it very hard to generate creative solutions when necessary. For many, generating \u2018outside the box\u2019 solutions feels as impossible a task as writing a children\u2019s book on quantum physics<\/u><\/a>. Luckily though, there is one<\/em> moment when creativity is a piece of cake for absolutely everybody.<\/p>\n

At night, everyone is a creative genius<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the day, pretty much every adult is bothered by an internal censor.<\/p>\n

Our prefrontal cortex<\/em> (the front part of our brain) suppresses impulses and filters information it deems unimportant. If you\u2019d have to process every bit of information you\u2019d quickly become insane. Your brain helps you out by censoring the information and by keeping you from considering ideas that are too wild. This way, distractions are kept to a minimum and you are able to concentrate on your daily tasks.<\/p>\n

A child’s prefrontal cortex isn\u2019t fully developed yet. Small children, therefore, have an imagination that runs as wild as the kids themselves. They aren\u2019t ashamed of anything and no idea is too far-fetched. Their not-yet-developed brains make that children are true creative geniuses.<\/p>\n

There is one<\/em> moment when adults recover their childhood creativity: when they\u2019re well asleep. Our dreams aren\u2019t limited by that dreadful prefrontal cortex. When we fall asleep, our prefrontal cortex shuts itself down. The internal censor is silenced and your head quickly fills with the craziest associations. The most ridiculous scenarios are suddenly accepted at face value.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, history offers many examples of creative ideas that found their origins in a dream. Not only original stories like \u2018Frankenstein<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde\u2019 <\/em>were conceived in a dream, the same goes for iconic songs like \u2018Yesterday\u2019 <\/em>(by Paul McCartney) and \u2018Satisfaction\u2019 <\/em>(by The Rolling Stones). Even the science-fiction classic \u2018The Terminator<\/em>\u2019 can be traced back to a dream.<\/p>\n

The French poet St. Paul Boux supposedly even went as far as to hang up a sign on his bedroom door that read: \u201cDO NOT DISTURB: POET AT WORK\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, there have also been creative minds that attempted (and succeeded) to silence their inner critic by using drugs (such as alcohol<\/u><\/a>), but if your goal is to solve problems creatively in the long run as well, a good night\u2019s sleep is definitely preferable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll sleep on it\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The proverbial act of \u2018sleeping on a problem\u2019 is actually<\/em> a good idea. By sleeping on it, you\u2019ll enable yourself to find original solutions. Researchers<\/u><\/a> have shown that people\u2019s problem-solving skills improve if they\u2019ve been given the time to enter REM sleep (the dream phase). The abundance of surprising connections and curious ideas we face in our dreams increases our chances of stumbling upon a novel solution.<\/p>\n

Before going to bed, remind yourself of the most pressing challenge that still lacks a solution. While you’re asleep, your brain will work on the problem. Chances are that you\u2019ll wake up with the brilliant insight you were looking for!<\/p>\n

No time for some shut-eye?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In some situations, a problem will be too urgent to leave for the morning. A bit of dreamstorming<\/em> is not always an option. Also, your manager might not understand you taking a nap during a crisis. Luckily, there are ways to silence your inner critic even without falling asleep.<\/p>\n

As most people have lost the natural creativity they had as a child, we need a trick to help ourselves find original ideas and surprising perspectives<\/span><\/a>. A great way to boost your creativity is by using \u2018thinking techniques\u2019; clever psychological techniques that enable anyone to generate creative ideas and elegant solutions. You can, for instance, force yourself to make new combinations by using a random image<\/u><\/a> or random proverb<\/u><\/a> as a starting point. Other creative thinking techniques help you to embrace crazy ideas<\/u><\/a>\u00a0by forcing you to eliminate elements that seem essential<\/u><\/a> or by encouraging you to make the situation even worse<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Techniques like these will feel awkward at first, but practice makes perfect. If you\u2019ll look for creative solutions in this structured way more often, the techniques will go more smoothly every time.<\/p>\n

Curious how clever thinking techniques could lead to creative solutions in your organisation? Take a look at our incompany workshops<\/u><\/a> or contact us<\/u><\/a> and let\u2019s discuss how we can help you.<\/p>\n

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Sources:<\/p>\n