Everyone is familiar with “aha” moments, when the solution to a problem suddenly pops into conscious awareness as if from nowhere. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if those moments of creative insight came a little more easily, a little more often? It turns out there are ways you can help your unconscious do its work.
Last year, research by Michael Shadlen at Columbia University, New York revealed that aha moments occur when in the unconscious to trigger conscious awareness of a decision. The point at which this critical threshold is reached will vary depending on the task. However, some people seem better at achieving it than others. What’s their secret? There are a couple of contenders. Studies suggest variously that creative insight is driven by one of two very different states of mind: concentrated focus and daydreaming. Intrigued by the contradiction here, Jonathan Schooler at the University of California, Santa Barbara, decided to test them head to head. He found that unless you are using an overtly analytical approach to solve a problem. By contrast, letting your mind wander, after taking in information, cultivates creative insight.
Advertisement
Hack your unconscious
Your unconscious mind is not a black box of fears and desires working to undermine you, but a powerhouse of thought. Discover how you can take advantage
If you want more aha moments, you must first scour some relevant material to give your unconscious something to work on. Then, Schooler recommends finding time for unfocused thinking. This is best done while you are engaging in an activity that’s not too mentally taxing, such as walking, gardening or household chores. “Try to disengage from spontaneous thoughts that are mundane, like thoughts about current concerns or plans for upcoming tasks, or thoughts merely replaying familiar scenes,” he says. People who experience more creative insight tend to report more bizarre imagery while mind wandering, so try to emulate them. “Engage with thoughts that are a bit more unusual or fantastical,” says Schooler. “Follow those thoughts through to the end, or extend them by asking playful, imaginative questions, such as ‘what if x was different?’ or ‘what if x was reversed?'”
Another way to tap unconscious inspiration is to modify your emotional state. There is some evidence that listening to “positive” background music, such as Vivaldi’s Spring, helps people come up with more creative ideas. Researchers suggest this may be because it triggers the release of dopamine, which is associated with creative thinking. Christina Fong at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, has found that – such as frustration and excitement – encourages creative insights too. That might be, she says, because it signals that you are in an unusual environment, making you alert to the possibility of other unusual relationships. If so, then life will be more inspiring if you embrace change and novelty.
Then there is “flow”. It is a slippery concept, a sort of deep immersion characterised by automaticity – a sense, for example, that the novel you are working on is writing itself. Research suggests that flow comes when you “turn off” conscious thought. Distractions will disrupt this process, and they are not conducive to daydreaming either. So, whether you are seeking flow, or trying to let your mind wander in the hope you will solve a problem, make sure you put your phone on silent and turn off email and social media alerts.
A word of caution, though. Creative insight doesn’t hold the answer to all your problems. You may have come across research suggesting that if you have to make a complicated decision with lots of variables, it is better to go with your gut than to “overthink” it. That was the conclusion of early research in this field, but subsequent studies have failed to replicate the finding. Psychologist Magda Osman at Queen Mary University of London looked at the evidence and found that when it comes to making choices to achieve a goal, .
This article appeared in print under the headline “Cultivate your unconscious”
