About This Episode

There are two types of problems:

1. Problems that require logical thinking and that you have to think all the way through until you find the solution. In other words, you have to do the work.

2. Problems that require creative thinking; linking up the pieces of knowledge puzzle, experiences and conversations to come up with a new way to move forward.

In this episode, I’ll be focusing on the latter type of problem, which requires creative thinking. 

Contrary to popular beliefs, problems like this are best solved with a wandering mind. It may sound counterproductive to you, but setting your deep work aside to let your mind rest and wander is proven to improve your productivity.

The mind wanders to these three places every day: Past, Present & Future.

Research shows that a wandering mind improves our creative thinking because when we give our mind time to wander, it visits: the future 48% of the time is in the present 28% of the time, and 12% of the time is spent reflecting on the past. The remaining moments is when your mind is typically blank or not thinking about anything in particular.

That’s why instead of hyper-focusing directly on the problem on hand,  scattering your attention allows your creativity to flourish as you travel through time and connect what you’ve learned to what you are doing or what you want to achieve.

The Power of Mind Wandering to Generate More Ideas

Unintentional mind-wandering takes place without your awareness, which could destroy your productivity. But, entering intentional mind-wander, which is known as “scatter focus”, is powerful when our intention is to solve problems, think more creatively, brainstorm new ideas, and recharge.

This helps you to work with greater intention as you consider your future and think about what you can do now to make it a reality. In fact, research says we are 14 times more likely to think about our goals when our mind is wandering versus when it’s focused.

It is quite the opposite of what we’ve been usually taught, right?

Once you know how to manage your attention by practising the different types of thinking modes at the right time, you’ll be on your way to a more productive and effective life. 

By keeping your goals or the problems you want to solve at the back of your mind and then bounce between the future, present and the past, your mind can connect ideas from all these three mental destinations. This is becoming a more valuable skill in a global pandemic because it gives the mind time to rest and plan.

Mind-wandering seems easy. And it surely does, but doing it the right way would give you huge benefits to generate more ideas to solve problems in your daily life.

How you get your mind to wander intentionally

According to the book “Hyperfocus” by Chris Bailey there are three modes you can use to let your mind wander intentionally, which are: capture mode, problem crunching mode and habitual mode.

1) Capturing mode

Is the easiest to do and is the best mode to capture what’s on your mind. You capture all the things you are waiting on or any stuff you got to do, such as what you want to cook for dinner. Just let your mind wander and log the ideas that come to your mind while sitting somewhere with a notepad to capture all the ideas. 

For me, this is what I’ve been doing on Sunday evenings to think about what’s scheduled for next week. Thus, I can plan whether I can make lunch and dinner, what I’ll be cooking, or whether we should get takeout. 

2) Problem crunching mode

Is excellent for finding solutions or ideas to a situation in which no progress is possible. Look at the problem from different angles, put it aside for a while and return to it later because you might encounter ideas this way versus focusing closely for hours.

You might have experienced this, right?

You know you have some sort of problem, maybe at home or at work. You sit down by yourself and want to find a solution to the problem, but instead, you find a dead end. So put that problem aside for a while, get some rest and recharge, read a book, take a walk, or take a nap, or even sleep on it, and return to it later with a fresher perspective.

3) Habitual mode

It is my all-time favourite way to generate new ideas. It is fairly simple because this mental mode involves you doing a habit that doesn’t fill up your attention fully. Cleaning the toilet, vacuuming, baking cookies, folding laundry, take a shower, or go for a walk. Anything that will give you a bit of a mental break; that’s a good way to enter this thinking mode.

When you are in the habitual mode, you can generate more ideas and creative insights if you capture them! It’s like taking a mental vacation. Your mental take a break for a while from focusing on all-consuming tasks.

In conclusion

The next time you are stuck on a problem, let your mind wander because you are more likely to generate new and exciting ideas. After all, it allows you to connect the dots between what you are experiencing now to what you want for the future and reflecting on the past. And it also gives your mind a mental break that it needs.

Over to you…

And my question for you guys today would be, you can answer this at the yourock.podcast on Instagram.

“What’s the ONE daily  activity  in your life that generates the greatest number of ideas to the problems that you want to solve?”

Let’s talk about it over Instagram yourock.podcast in the comments.

And don’t forget to join my free Live masterclass on 24th October to jump start your productivity journey amidst the endemic at draliahmajid.com/masterclass

That’s all for today. I appreciate you guys for tuning in as always: remember to;

Subscribe for inspiration; start your day with intention, love what you do and end your day with gratitude!

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