When are breakthroughs the most possible? And when should we just take a break?
My favourite editor Helen Williams asked me some great questions about my upcoming visual thinking Bootcamp / World Tour. Above are two of her questions and my answers follow here:
This is the hardest thing for me. I have a tendency to want to process my experiences immediately and I expect to see breakthroughs. Especially with big emotional experiences, stress and sadness. But many times I end up just spinning around, getting trapped in thought loops or simple recounting facts and emotional reactions. I think this is because I want to be able to quickly fix myself. I want to process it and let it go. Move on.
But last Monday I had a very stressful experience and while talking it through with my dear friend Sarah that evening, she reminded me that adrenaline (one of the hormones the body releases during high stress) can take 16 hours to be broken down in the body. And so long as adrenaline is pumping, all my senses and perceptions are in a state of high alert. Small issues suddenly look like major threats. And future plans, no matter how grounded and realistic, feel like hazy mirages.
So perhaps we can make a simple rule of thumb: have you recently experienced a severe level of stress that produced adrenaline in your body? If yes, take a break and relax. If no, please proceed.
Other than that I think it’s a very individual thing. For some, it’s best in the early morning where the mind is untainted and fresh. For others, the evening is best. Right now I’m often too tired in the evening and the kids wake up super early so I just try to make time for it during my work day. I think you will just have to find your own rhythm. And let it evolve and shift as your life and circumstances change.
My favourite editor Helen Williams asks me questions about my upcoming visual thinking Bootcamp World Tour. Signup to be notified. See also my answers to these other questions:
— What is the science behind visual thinking?
— How can we determine what kind of thinkers we are?
— How can note takers go visual? Why will that help? What will change?
— How can visual thinking change the way we process information?
