A woman is solving a crossword puzzle. She’s stuck in one corner, staring hopelessly at the same clues and empty squares, finally giving up. That evening while watching television, she picks the puzzle back up and the answers immediately fall into place.
What’s going on? Neuroscientists and psychologists call it the incubation effect, and it's still something of a mystery. One theory is that the unconscious mind has been busy sorting input, making comparisons, and finding connections. Another is that the distraction of another activity yanks us out of an unproductive rut. It might be both. Or something else. But here's the thing—we don't actually have to understand it to make use of it. All we need to know is that something is happening in that oasis of idleness. And it can help.
A good demonstration of the incubation effect is an experiment researchers Benjamin Baird and Jonathan Smallwood conducted in 2011. Test subjects had two minutes to perform an Unusual Uses Task (UUT), such as listing as many uses for a toothpick as possible. Participants then repeated the UUT, but under four different conditions. Three groups each got a 12-minute break—one group did nothing during that time, another performed a simple, unrelated task, and the third tackled a mentally demanding task. A fourth group took no break, instead repeating the UUT immediately.
Mind wandering! Contrary to what we often do when faced with a stubborn problem—bearing down even harder—stepping away can sometimes be more productive. Go for a walk, organize your desk, take a shower—anything that will casually occupy your mind. Don't try to decipher instructions for assembling a bicycle or get into a heated discussion with your neighbor. Allow your thoughts to meander without purpose.
As psychologist Malia Mason notes, “In the absence of a task that requires deliberative processing, the mind generally tends to wander, flitting from one thought to the next with fluidity and ease.”
That free-flowing state of mind is a breeding ground for creative insight.
