The Creative Break

One of the many things I got from meeting with Linda Williams was the
concept of taking breaks in the middle of working time, 10 minutes per
hour, and a clearer idea of how to have a "working break" - the kind of
break that accelerates your work and breaks through blocks. I've long
thought and read that real creative problem solving, at least the solo
part of it, takes a mixture of solid working time at your desk and
undirected, unpressured time when it's nevertheless on your mind (in fact
I published a book chapter about that). That means that often brilliant solutions come in the shower or on your daily commute, but you can actually incorporate that same kind of free-thinking time into your regular working hours.

The main thing is to do something on your break where you're alone and not
distracted by other words, problems or ideas, so what you were just
working on continues to bubble away. You don't get into a conversation,
and you don't read anything or write anything.

So what does that leave you to do during your break? I brainstormed this
list just for starters:

* Go and get a snack
* Make tea
* Go for a walk around the building
* Stretch out under a tree and watch the branches
* Wash your face
* Have a good BM
* Climb something
* Juggle
* Play with a pet
* Take off all your clothes then put them back on
* Feed the ducks
* Find a body of water and stare across it
* Watch construction
* Do dishes
* Do stretches or exercises

(note that these kind of breaks can be very good for your body too)

As long as you were actively attacking the problem right up to the break,
and know that you're to get back to it after a short, set interval, it's
basically impossible not to get at least one creative idea during this
kind of breaks. So a last tip is to make sure you have a notebook or index
card and pen with you, just in case.