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It was only a couple of weeks ago that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg took on a curious productivity "problem" — bathroom breaks. On his weekly radio show, Bloomberg attributed his mega-successful media empire's growth to his own hard work, namely the fact that he hardly ever stepped away from his desk. Bloomberg's mantra? No bathroom breaks, no lunch breaks, be the first to arrive and and the last to leave.
While we're all for working hard and coming out on top, this nose-to-the-grindstone approach isn't a one-size-fits-all, especially when it comes to creative inspiration. It might even be helpful to take a little break, walk around, and contemplate your ideas in a new light.
In Your Creative Brain, Harvard University researcher and psychologist Shelley H. Carson makes the point that sometimes a little distraction is exactly what the doctor ordered. So often we focus on the steps we think are necessary to solve a problem, neglecting the fact that some of the most inspired ideas come from out-of-the-box thinking. If we want to be both creative and focused, then we've got to give our creativity room to grow and breathe.
There's plenty of examples of super-inspirational folks who don't chain themselves to a desk. Woody Allen famously takes up to one-hour-long hot showers to help draw out his unusual ideas (hope he moisturizes after!). (The Huffington Post)