Unlock Creativity Without Burnout: The Power of Incubation
Step back and let your ideas incubate.
When it comes to creativity, “more” is not always “better.”
In our relentless quest to achieve the ambitious creative goals we’ve set for ourselves, we often overlook a crucial ingredient: the power of stepping back and letting our ideas incubate.
This concept is not just a feel-good suggestion; it’s backed by scientific research.
If you aren’t getting time away from your work, the quality of your creative output will actually suffer.
Are you leaving enough time and space for incubation?
Rethinking Hustle Culture
Creativity is not a linear, predictable process.
Contrary to what “hustle” culture would have you believe, our most innovative work does not come about through simply going harder or doing more.
We must unlearn the notion that if we’re not getting the creative results we’re hoping for, we need to do more.
Paradoxically, in order to reach higher levels of innovation and solve more complex problems, we actually need to do less at times.
We need time for restoration not only to prevent burnout (which can completely derail us from our creative goals) but to actually help us more effectively and effortlessly achieve our creative goals.
We need breaks and space to simply allow our mind to wander freely without directly tasking it to do something.
The Power of Incubation
These moments of distancing yourself from your goal encourage incubation, an unconscious cognitive state where your mind is free to process the enormous amounts of information that you have been consciously feeding it.
When the mind is relaxed and free to unconsciously process everything, it can lead to abrupt moments of insight, those “a ha” moments that I’m sure you’ve experienced while showering, taking a walk, driving, doing the dishes, or some other non-work activity.
In fact, our unconscious mind is actually much more powerful than our conscious mind at making creative associations and solving complex problems.
Incubation is all about giving our brains the space to make unexpected connections.
The Science of Incubation — Why It’s So Helpful
Research backs up the power of incubation, showing that incubation:
- Lets our conscious mind rest, replenishing cognitive resources.
- Helps us become less fixated and “stuck” on ineffective solutions and approaches
- Activates and integrates unconscious neural pathways (i.e. builds new connections), leading to novel ideas.
- Promotes opportunistic assimilation — as you go about your day, you may more effectively take notice of something that’s related to your problem and assimilate it into your creative thinking
A Story of Incubation and Innovation
In 1976, John Reed, then the head of the new Consumer Services Group at CitiGroup, went on vacation to the beach. He needed to get away from the stress and turmoil of his high-impact position, which started in 1974.
He thought he was taking a vacation to rest and recharge, but what happened on this trip to the beach would forever transform the banking industry.
While lounging at the beach, John suddenly was hit with inspiration. Quickly, he grabbed a pen and some paper and began transcribing his thoughts.
In this brain-dumping of ideas, John outlined a new vision for consumer banking, believing that it would become a core business that could not only help his company grow, but one that would deeply benefit society in general.
What he thought was a break to rest and recharge turned into a pivotal moment in banking history. His ‘Memo from the Beach’ laid the foundation for consumer banking and ATMs as we know them today.
This story exemplifies how stepping away from work can lead to creative breakthroughs.
Practical Tips for Incubation — Find Your Incubation Activity
Whether it’s a walk, a bath, or even doing dishes, find what helps your mind detach from your goals.
What ideas or opportunities could you experiment with to bring more incubation to your life?
What helps your mind wander?
I find that there is a great opportunity for incubation in the mundane. Those everyday activities that we often take for granted, or approach with annoyance, can actually be reframed into powerful opportunities for incubation.
Here are some ideas to experiment with:
- Driving — The repetitive nature of driving, especially on routes we know well or long boring drives, can shift our focus away from active problem-solving. This mental shift allows subconscious thoughts to surface, leading to unexpected creative insights. I personally get a lot of ideas for the hooks, melodies, and lyrics of the music I create while driving.
- Doing the Dishes — The simple, almost automatic act of washing dishes can be meditative. The sensory experience — the feel of the water, the sound of clinking dishes — can act as a gentle distraction, allowing the mind to wander and explore creative ideas. A study in the scientific journal, Mindfulness, found that mindful dishwashing — focusing on the smell of the soap, the warmth of the water, and the feel of the dishes — led to a 27% decrease in nervousness and a 25% increase in inspiration.
- Taking a Bath or Shower — There’s a reason taking a long hot bath is the cliche incubation and “a-ha” insight generator. Baths work! Archimedes famously shouted “Eureka!” in his bath upon discovering the principle of buoyancy, showcasing how relaxation can lead to monumental insights. The combination of warm water and solitude creates an ideal environment for the mind to detach from work-related artifacts and roam freely.
- Walking the Dog — Walking the dog combines physical activity with a change of scenery, which can stimulate new neural connections. The repetitive motion of walking, coupled with the responsibility of caring for a pet, provides just enough engagement to keep us grounded while our minds explore creative avenues. Studies also show that walking, especially in nature, can significantly boost creativity. Nature walks have been linked to enhanced cognitive functioning and increased creative output. One of our very own Challenge members, Cassandra, has talked about the restorative power of her walks with her dog after long days of work.
- Gardening — The tactile and nurturing nature of gardening allows for a calming, immersive experience. As you focus on planting and tending to plants, your mind can solve problems in the background.
- Cooking — Cooking can not only be relaxing, but it can provide the mind with small challenges to solve. While experimenting with ingredients or cooking methods, a person might suddenly find a solution to a problem they’ve been ruminating on. Prepping a meal can become a meditative act that allows the brain to detach and restore.
Why These Activities Work for Incubation
- Mindfulness: They promote a state of mindfulness, which has been shown to enhance creativity.
- Distraction: These activities provide a gentle distraction, allowing the unconscious mind to work on problems without the pressure of direct focus.
- Change of Pace: They offer a change of pace and environment, which can shift our perspective and open up new ways of thinking.
- Sensory Stimulation: Engaging multiple senses — smell, taste, touch — can stimulate different parts of the brain. Multisensory engagement can enhance creative thinking and problem-solving.
- Cognitive Rest: Mental downtime allows the brain to shift gears, often leading to creative insights.
What are some other activities that you could experiment with?
Prime Your Mind for Incubation with Powerful Questions
There is some evidence that priming your mind with questions before embarking on incubation activities can potentially be useful for activating your unconscious mind’s processing. Our brains naturally want to close open loops, so identifying a few questions that you’d like your unconscious mind to reflect on and generate insights for could be a useful approach. The key is to not engage in consciously trying to figure out these questions though. Just let your unconscious mind do the work while you engage in your incubation activities.
Try priming your unconscious mind before bed as well and see what insights emerge for you.
Capture Your Ideas
Even though you aren’t consciously working on your goals, you still want to be prepared for when those insights and “a-has” start flowing!
Keep a small notebook in your pocket or use your phone’s voice memo app to record those freshly made creative connections and solutions so you can further develop them later.
👉Let me know what’s resonating with you and what you’ll apply next.
More About Coach Jeff
My name is Jeff Fajans (rhymes with “lions”) and I help creative entrepreneurs bring their biggest ideas to life and reach their next level of creative success.
I have a PhD in Positive Organizational Psychology from Claremont Graduate University, where I studied under Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the world-renowned author of Flow. My research focused on how to help people learn, develop, and lead more effectively to better achieve creative goals.
I am also an avid music creator and guitar player. 🤘
Through my 1-on-1 Creative Momentum Coaching, 30-Day Creative Momentum Challenge community, internationally acclaimed digital courses, and speaking engagements, I’ve helped thousands of people from around the world connect with their purpose, clarify their creative vision, amplify their motivation, and create actionable strategies that make achieving their most meaningful goals inevitable.
These are people who are pursuing big goals like starting or leading a business (and scaling it to higher levels of innovation & growth), writing + filming a feature film (and it winning a Sundance award), building an app or product (and getting accepted into Y Combinator or getting VC funding), writing a book (and hitting the Amazon bestseller list) or even exploring a meaningful side hustle or passion project.
I’m also experimenting with building my own “assistant coach” (i.e. my AI clone via GPT), Creative Momentum Coach. Feel free to test it out for free and be sure to give it feedback! It hopefully will help guide you toward bringing your biggest ideas to life — but who knows what exactly it will do at the moment :)
