Are smartphones the new creativity scapegoat?

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” albert einstein.

Let’s cut the crap, and get straight to the point: it is well known that by doing nothing, or almost nothing, helps us to get creative, why? Well, because our brain is constantly working, either we are working or not, and different regions of our brain are always active, and the creative regions are more active when we do nothing.

There are regions in our brain, called midline cortical regions,, that engage in processing information about the self and mind wandering. During the resting state or the default mode network, the cortical midline regions light up and get very active; then we start daydreaming and wandering; in other words, we start the creative process :).

But, how do smartphones fit in all that creativity thing? Smartphones are just tools that happen to be with us all the time; they are easy to carry and keep us connected all the time with the external world. Constant use of smartphones keeps us busy, and we may never get into the creative process by preventing ourselves from daydreaming and wandering. Is this new in human history? Of course not, the TV made (and makes) us busy as well before the invention of the smartphones.

The difference now is that smartphones are with us all the time, they keep us busy by checking emails, playing games, reading posts/comments on social media, etc.

Take away:

So now what? Well, let’s cut the crap again, we just need to learn how to behave around those devices, that is it. The main idea is to keep the smartphones addiction under control, by reducing the time of using them. Here a smart list to do:

• Reduce the people you follow on social media to the strict minimum.
• Turn off notifications.
• Do not use the device around bedtime.
• Uninstall distracting apps.
• etc.

There are many other tricks that allow us to get control over those tools, and be who we are a creative species. Feel free to share your favorite trick :)

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