A Ph.D. employed by a top research company  stands in front of a blank wall incessantly bouncing a ball.  Has he had an emotional break-down?  Is he wasting time while being paid to work?  Has he regressed to a childish state?  Does his boss know?  Why isn’t he sitting at his desk or working in the lab developing the new drug he has been tasked with developing?  Shouldn’t he get back to work?

Sometimes taking a break from mental work to do less complex tasks actually helps you accomplish more of your mental work.  Of course, we know that walking away from our work for a short break helps us return refreshed with better focus.  But a recent study showed that while we are engaging in ‘mindless’ simple tasks our brains  are actually working on the complex task in the background.  Often when the pressure is taken off, the brain solves the complex task by processing while the mind is in default mode.  We’ve all experienced this happy phenomenon.  You’re struggling with a difficult problem.  Your dog is whining so you finally give up and take him for a walk.  While walking along enjoying the fresh air, the sights, the physical exercise, suddenly the answer to the difficult problem flashes into your conscious thinking.  Your brain was processing  in the background while you did simple tasks.

So here’s the trick- balance the working and the diversion.  We still have to work, but we don’t need to feel guilty for stopping and doing something mentally easier.  But beware of taking a break and using the time to do different, but equally mentally demanding work.  So don’t read a book, or watch TV.  Pick something you can do with your mind in neutral so the rest of your brain is free to wander and think differently about the work task.  I often get an idea while washing dishes or gardening, taking a shower or a walk, or looking out the window.

Our daughter worked for a research  company that encourages its scientists to do whatever they need to do to get into a neutral mental state in order to process difficult problems.  The scientist who spent time bouncing a ball against a wall was a brilliant pharmacuetical researcher who knew when to stop and let his mind shift into neutral so it could problem solve.  I knew a very capable interior designer who once told me that she had to charge her clients for the time she sat at her desk looking out the window.  It took time to just stop and let ideas come.

What do you do that allows your brain to wander?  Do you let yourself off the hook and give yourself permission to disengage on a regular basis?  It may be the quickest way to finish that mental task.

For further reading:

http://psychologyforphotographers.com/the-overachievers-guide-to-taking-a-break