Are We Most Creative When We Are Tired?
We humans are a really unique species, out of all the hundreds of millions of others. I mean, yeah, every species has something unique about them but our uniqueness transcends the basic survival game that other species are stuck in.
To a certain extent we are too, but that is not the point I’m trying to make. We are an intelligent species and we are conscious about our intelligence and are capable of using this to mould our very surroundings according to our own whims, as today’s modern world bears witness.
If intelligence wasn’t enough to make us unique, we have yet another immensely valuable asset and that is creativity. There are differing thoughts as to whether our creativity is just a subset of our intelligence or it is something exclusive altogether.
Regardless, there is no doubt that we are problem solvers and thanks to the dual aspect of our intelligence, we can use logic and critical thinking or use our creativity to push our species even further.
Are We Strictly One or The Other?
It is widely believed that each of us is either right brained or left brained. Right brained, if we tend to be creative and artistic and left brained, if we are analytical and logical in our thinking.
First of all, recent studies have shown that be it one or the other, we use our entire brains for what we are doing and the two parts of the brain are not working in isolation.
Secondly, while it is true that as individuals we may lean more towards the analytical part or creative part, but each of us has both these abilities and it is not strictly one or the other. It’s just that these are different ways of thinking and we happen to choose one way more than the other depending on who we are.
For the purposes of today’s post however, let me talk about creativity because that to me is a more ‘human’ ability. Creativity is still somewhat of a mystery because even if you are naturally creative, you won’t have continuous spurts of “aha” moments.
This led me to explore why that is so and how our creativity is affected by various factors and I learned something that might sound strange and counter-intuitive but is true.
We Are More Creative When Tired
Yes, that sentence doesn’t sound right at first because all we want to do is sleep or rest when we are tired and so, someone suggesting that we are at our best (creatively speaking) when we are tired, sounds bizarre!
That is true however, according to a study conducted by Mareike Wieth and Rose Zacks. Basically, it has to do with how distracted we are when we are tired and how that actually help us think creatively.
Imagine you are working on something and you are feeling tired. We tend to be more distracted when we are tired and thus we are unable to focus. But that is where the increased creativity comes from.
We all know creativity is all about thinking out of the box and so when we are less focused, we tend to be distracted and open to a broader range of information. This allows us to look at the task at hand in a different light and is often the source of those coveted “Aha!” moments.
I can speak from personal experience that most of the times, it is at times when I am not completely at my best and my brain is not working that efficiently, I tend to write articles that in my opinion are better than when I write them when I am fresh and at my best. Have you felt something similar too?
I can only speak for myself. I have found when I lie down and be completely quiet is when my creative juices rise. I do not go to sleep. I only lay quiet and think. No distractions of any kind. The world has too many distractions. Perhaps that is why much of our culture though creative still ...has become more generic and without personality in the past 50 years. Look at architecture, music and so much more. We need to silence ourselves and rediscover our creative juices. Great subject. @sauravrungta
I totally understand what you are trying to say. It is the same for me too :D
Conscious effort is always under the pressure to perform but unconscious effort is free, that why we are more creative when we are not trying. Great post btw.
Yeah, we all know that the sub-conscious mind is so much powerful than the conscious one. Maybe that kicks in when we are tired and need to accomplish something creative.
Maybe it’s that when we’re tired, both of our brain parts need to work together more effectively to accomplish the task, in a sense that the creative part is the one that drifts, and the analytical part is the one that tries to focus, keeps the schedule, pushes forward. The outcome would be a more creative, or dense/thoughtful work, but at cost of much more energy spent, as we manage this “inner struggle”. Hmm, interesting post, thank you!
I wish I knew if that was correct or not. hehe. But it is certainly a ponder worthy idea.
Haha, same here. Didn’t comment out of assurance of its correctness, but the idea came while reading your post, so wanted to contribute and share back :)
I can confirm that I wrote some of my best and most prominent posts on Steemit when I was tired and/or stressed. It doesn't work every time obviously, but tiredness and stress can occasionally push the brain above the normal level of 'functionality'.
Yes, I can confirm this too. In fact, I wrote this post when I was too tired to even open my eyes (just to experiment). :D
great post. I know for my self its a thin line to walk when I'm tired and creating. Sometimes its magic and others its a disaster.
That is so true!
@sauravrungta have you heard of the book "The Artist's Way"? It makes me think of this. The author in that book says that the reason we aren't creative or feel we lack creative inspiration is because we are censoring ourselves too often. She suggests that freewriting is the best way to remove the tendency to censor our thoughts, and this leads to a lot of creative inspiration. I think there's a similar idea here in that when you lack sleep, you are censoring yourself much less. Your logical brain is a bit faulty, and so your creative mind is free to be however it pleases (or at least more than it usually can!).
Thanks for the intriguing post here! Would love to hear your thoughts on my latest post:3 MIND-ALTERING Ways To Inspire Your Next Steemit Post
This is an excellent point and I have to agree with this, totally!!
I tend to do better when I am least prepared.
Me too :)
I for one am a Dormouse and if I don't sleep for 9 hours a night, yes 9! I am soon poorly, weary and washed out -certainly not creative. That said the logic of your piece kinda makes sense, thank-you. Off for a snooze now :) xox
I am totally a Dormouse too :D I need my 9 hours. :D
Maybe that's the reason why I always work at night :D Thank you very much for this brilliant post!
Thanks for reading :)
Great article, but I would look at it in a different perspective. Why would one work or do something when tired?. Mostly, because we have a deadline for it or have to do it. I personally think creativity is triggered in a situation where you know you have to do something whether you are tired or not.
You make a really good point!! It could be because they are doing the creative things as a second job of some kind? I mean, the first job for the financial security and the creative stuff, in hopes to grow it.