Take a Break to Make Something Better

Try these different kinds of breaks to improve your creative output

Logic tells us the more time we spend on a task the more we’ll get more done. When it comes to meeting a deadline, it can be tempting to keep going, even when we feel fatigued. However, for creative tasks, this could be the worst approach. Straight forward, mundane, repetitive tasks that require less brain-power can be accomplished by simply plugging away. When it comes to creative jobs, pushing ahead when you’re tired is unlikely to help. Creativity is a capricious colleague. To have her on your side, you need time and space.

Solving problems creatively — Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash

Creativity and our brain

Creativity doesn’t come from a single area of our brain. Multiple parts need to be working in concert for optimal creativity. Our frontal cortex — the more recently evolved, high-energy part of our brain — along with the hippocampus — part of the older limbic system, and the basal ganglia which plays a role in our movement, emotions and behaviour all need to work together with the help of our brain’s white matter (which provides the connections between each area).

It takes a lot of energy to keep the neurons firing in all areas. Our body and brain are designed to conserve energy wherever and whenever they can. It’s still geared…