Sunday 17 July 2022

Thinking Time: The benefits of doing nothing

Sometimes just letting your mind wander can make you more productive. Making time to unconsciously solve problems by letting the organic computer have some processing time can help us think clearly about the projects we are working on.

9 comments:

  1. Totally agree Lee. I often find the mind comes up with solutions to problems when I'm not consciously thinking about them. It might be when I'm painting figures or doing some other task that requires concentration, but isn't mentally demanding. Swimming in my case - when counting the strokes and counting lengths, my mind can wander and I find I can be more creative. I also find this when working from home - I might be having a break and doing some mundane household task and that knotty work problem suddenly seems simpler. In the office, it's hard to find this thinking time with all the background chatter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny you should mention working from home, I was having a very similar conversation with my boss only last week!

      Delete
  2. As a gamer currently in Day 4 of COVID isolation (not at home with his toys) I am finding quite the opposite - far too much to delve down rabbit holes and go online shopping for new and completely unrelated projects! :-) But I do agree with the main premise - I usually get out at lunchtime on a walk, and the mental break help all types of problem solving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you're feeling better! Its squeezing in some time to be 'unproductive' in an otherwise busy day that can free the mind to strut its stuff. A goo walk or just sitting and enjoying being outside is a great way to relax and think.

      Delete
  3. Hope you're feeling better (everyone seems to have it at the moment).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lee, an interesting and thought-provoking topic. We all need to time to ourselves to ruminate on the challenges of the hobby and sort out the World. Having spent twelve hours driving by myself this past weekend, I had plenty of time for self discussion and reflection. Rather than put music or lectures on, I spent most of the time enjoying the scenery, imagining what it was like to make the journey over the Oregon Trail (that is where I was, by the way), thinking about rules, computing dice probabilities in my head (yes, hard to believe), and assorted other gaming related stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoy driving but even more so when its in beautiful country with a good view. I went up to Sheffield recently (so a four and half hour drive) and I found that very relaxing.

      Delete
  5. I completely agree. Icky confession time … my down time used to be sitting on the loo! I was often able to solve rule design issues there!

    Elenderil

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I always try to reply as soon as I can, so why not pop back later and continue the conversation. In the meantime, keep rolling high!