No, this isn’t about 80′s Rock ballads (although, there is an idea…). What I want to ramble about today is the insessent background ‘noise’ we have in this information age. And more importantly, I want to ramble about the benefit to creative thinking of hiding from this noise on a regular basis.
Maybe I should define a few terms here to start off with:
Noise – not exclusively, but certainly not excluding, aural noise. I mean the constant background hum of TV, radio, e-mail, Twitter, snippets of conversations, billboard adverts, etc. Basically, all that will tear your attention away from where you want your attention to be.
Hiding From – I don’t mean meditation. That is a whole ‘nother thing. Just the absence of noise to enable you to focus on something else.
Creative Thinking – sure, hiding from noise may help you get most of your tasks done, but I am specifically thinking here about time for problem solving. For working on those elusive so-whats.
So when you stick this all together, what have you got? Well, you have a metaphorical blank sheet of paper, and the time to fill it up. Hell, you might also have an actual blank piece of paper, but that is missing the point.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
1. I have an hour and a half drive to work most mornings. Usually I fill this time catching up with the news, listening to podcasts, making phone calls and listening to music. Once a week however, I am now trying to a journey with nothing at all, other than a dictaphone to record anything interesting that comes to mind.
2. I had to give a presentation on the corporate strategy of our business this week. Before spending hours mid-tussle with Powerpoint, I spent 2 hours with a blank piece of paper in a secluded corner of my local library – a long way from the hustle of the office, and the cherp of my phone.
3. Often I’ll go to bed an hour earlier so I can just lie there and have some thinking time with no distractions.
This is when you come up with those really creative ideas. When you have the time and capacity to let train of thought lead to train of thought lead to goodness knows where. This is meditation without the rules or the map and compass.
Give it a go, and see what you can find.
