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Why Doing Nothing Will Make You Smarter
And Maybe Even a Better Writer
I heard Neil Gaiman talking about his writing process in a recent interview. He said that he only has one rule when he sits down to write.
He can either write or do nothing.
He says even if he doesn’t feel like writing, eventually, he gets bored enough that writing becomes appealing.
This struck me as an extremely effective rule for one big reason. The brain is most creative when it has nothing to do. When the Executive Attention Network is at rest, the Imagination Network can activate and begin to work on new ideas.
The problem with our fast-paced society is that we never let our brains rest. It is astounding to me how addicted we are to our phones and devices and how allergic we have become to doing nothing. God forbid we have to stand in line for more than a minute without pulling out our phones and distracting ourselves. We can’t even have a conversation and simply wonder about something rather than immediately googling the answer to whatever question may come up. Anytime we get stuck, bored, sad, frustrated, or begin to feel any other unpleasant emotion, we are compelled to distract ourselves from the discomfort.
