Dreaming and Happiness, Part II: The Path to Creative Problem Solving

So … here’s another bit of information on the daydreaming vs. happiness question. It may very well be true that we’re happier in any given moment if we’re actively engaged in a task at hand—even if the task isn’t particularly fun—than if we’re daydreaming or musing unproductively. (See my last post for a more in-depth discussion of this.) But a New York Times article this week backed up my point that “not all daydreaming is ‘wasted time.'” Or, to put it another way, letting our minds wander, while not necessarily happiness-producing in the moment, often leads to either creative insight or more productive work later on, which can make us happier in the long run.
The Times article, entitled “Tracing the Spark of Creative Problem-Solving,” offered some solid neurological reasons why—at least sometimes—it’s actually important to let our minds wander.
The article reported on several recent studies that explored people’s puzzle-solving abilities—especially their ability to solve a puzzle by “insight thinking” instead of trial-and-error or analytical thinking. Interestingly enough, it seems that people who’ve just been told a good joke, or have positive attitudes in general, have a greater ability to see an “aha!” solution to a puzzle. The reason, researchers explained, is that humor and optimism tend to put our brains in “broad, diffuse, attentional state that is both perceptual and visual,” where “you’re not only thinking more broadly, you’re literally seeing more.”
In neurological terms, this state involves strong activity in an area of the brain called the “anterior cingulated cortex.” Apparently, cells in this part of the brain are activated when we narrow or widen our focus. And, as the Times article put it, “in the case of insight puzzle-solving, the brain seems to widen its attention, in effect making itself more open to distraction, to weaker connections.” That’s important because in those “weaker,” or less obvious leaps and connections, can lie the kind of unconventional, “aha!” idea or insight that changes everything, or solves a seemingly intractable problem.
As a creative writer, the description of that process hit home, because it explains a phenomenon I’ve struggled with for years. Part of what’s difficult about working in a creative field is that sense of “wasted” or “non-productive” time that comes with figuring out an interesting idea, angle, story line, or how to express that in words, notes, rhythms, or images. My significant other works as a program manager, and his days are filled with checklist tasks. It’s thankless, draining work in many ways, but at least he has a list of accomplishments to check off at the end of every day.
But I’ve discovered, over time, that in order to come up with creative new ideas, angles on stories, or ways to express those ideas, I have to let go of my “productive” urges and engage in the much-less directed activity of what, for lack of a better term, I’ll call “pondering.” I have to let my mind go exploring … reading a bit, imagining a bit, thinking a bit, researching a bit, wondering a lot, and even visualizing various images, ideas, or possibilities. And not always even on the exact problem or question at hand.
If the researchers quoted in the Times article are correct, the reason that process works is that “pondering” puts my mind in a less-focused state, where it is more likely to pick up on less-obvious ideas, solutions, or approaches. Kind of like being more likely to notice the unusual flowers on the side of the road if you aren’t hell-bent on getting to the corner in the shortest possible time.
Not that I haven’t suspected as much, even without the neurological explanation to back me up. In the spring of 2009, I wrote a post called “Explorer vs. Commander,” about different information processing styles—the commander’s approach, which narrows existing information to a decision point (analytical), and the explorer’s approach, which seeks ever more information in its quest to reach a point of new or better understanding (insight thinking). It makes sense that if you’re focused on a point, whether that point is a decision, or the goal of productivity, you are, by necessity, screening out distracting information that might, if you were in a less-focused “pondering” mode, spark a new idea or solution in your mind.
But that also means that it’s hard to feel productive while you’re pondering, because your mind is operating on a completely different level. Hence my frustration, after a morning spent exploring through bits in the world and pondering ideas in search of a new creative idea, angle, approach, or piece of understanding, at feeling as if I haven’t actually gotten anything done. Pondering in search of creative insight is also an unpredictable process. Easy enough to estimate how long it will take to pay the bills or paint the living room. Harder to know how long you will have to ponder before your mind stumbles on one of those weak but significant “aha!” moment connections. But it certainly helps to at least be in the right state of mind for those unconventional connections to occur.
And that’s where humor—and, I would argue, the company of friends—can be an important catalyst. Humor, after all, is inherently distracting from productivity; a side laugh or two before focusing back on the task at hand. It’s also hard to be tense and focused when you’re laughing. So it’s no big surprise that humor helps get the mind relaxed enough to meander creatively.
But interactions with friends can also help free us from the grip of productivity and tunnel-vision focus.. Think about those dark nights in the forest in “hero journey” tales where the hero is desperate, cold, alone, and out of ideas … and then is found by a friendly traveler, wizard, or other helpful kindred spirit. They share a fire, some food and drink, and some stories. And somehow, that aids the hero in finding a new way forward in the morning. Perhaps the point of those interludes is to demonstrate the basic power of friendship. But part of the reason friends are so helpful in getting us unstuck is that socializing with them puts us in a good, positive mood, where our mind loosens up a bit and we suddenly “see” solutions or ideas we missed when we were focused inward on darker and gloomier thoughts.
Balance is still an important element to the equation, of course. There is a point where pondering becomes wandering aimlessly through the land of procrastination. And there’s also a point where indulging in entertainment or socializing with friends becomes so distracting that it’s actually an impediment to any other pondering, work or problem-solving we might do.
But this research on creative problem-solving supports the idea that there’s an important place in the world for pondering, regardless of what some social media and instant-response internet aficionados believe. And that means there’s an equally important place for humor, friends, or anything else that gets our minds to loosen up enough to do that pondering.
As for the time and patience required to hit paydirt in such an undirected process … ahhhh.  I still don’t have a good answer for that one. Perhaps everyone working in a creative field should take up fly fishing, just as a reminder that some things in life can’t be rushed, forced, or even controlled. Inspiration and fish bite … when they bite. Sometimes they don’t bite at all. But you need to be in the river—calm, quiet, casting your line again and again, and listening to all the subtle sounds and movements of nature—if you’re going to have a chance of landing one at all. That’s the art and the beauty of it. It’s why everyone doesn’t fly fish, of course. But it’s also why, when that flash of silver tail or inspiration finally hits … it’s sweeter by far than any task or conquest that was straightforward from the start.