“Creativity is contagious, pass it on”- Albert Einstein
Have you ever thought is there any specific time of the day when you are at your most creative peak? What time of the day do you think your creative juices flow most easily for you?
According to a recent survey of the Crown Plaza hotel group, certain times and activities are more conducive to creative thinking than others. They found that the most creative time was late in the evening (around 10 pm), while their respondents were at the least creative in the late afternoon (around 4.30 pm). Again, as per the research of the MPA Group of 1000 UK officers, an overwhelming majority across various industries claims their most creative ideas to come between 10.00 am and 11.30 am.
I admit the surveys are a tad bit silly and weird at the same time. Still, the findings do reinforce something that many of us already are well-aware of intuitively but do not pay much attention to.
Be it the circadian rhythms, be it the daily ebb and flow of blood sugar, or even magic if you want; the fact remains that our brains maintain a timetable that can be challenging to change or even difficult to combat. Whether your personal schedule matches the results of the surveys or your creative times come later in the night, it pays to comprehend simply how your mind’s abilities wax and wane over the entire course of the day.
In today’s blog post, to satisfy all your curiosity, I will walk you through the various scientific reasons that are responsible for our varying reasons of creativity. Not only that but here we will also discover our most creative times and how to make the most out of them.
The Theory of Circadian Rhythm And The Capacity To Focus
The time of the day when human beings tend to be the most creative is different for different people. Like, as per the MPA Group survey, a journalist feels more creative at 9.48 am, an architect at 10.06 am, a scientist at 10.30 am, admin staff at 11.14 am, a lawyer at 11.19 am, a doctor at 12 pm, etc.
For many people, it is a struggle to focus early in the morning. But more jobs tend to get accomplished between the hours of 9.00 and 11.00 than at other times of the day, on the basis of the activity of the workers.
This is consistent with what is popularly called the circadian rhythms of sleep, alertness, and their underlying changes in hormone levels. These get regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus that serves as the bodily clock.
The Difference Between Morning And Evening People
A genome-wide association study states, whether a person is a morning or evening is related to fewer than 15 spots in the genome. This evidence backs up the theory that getting up late is not merely a matter of laziness. Rather, there are genuine differences in where the circadian rhythm is set.
To gain a lucid idea, let’s have a look at this survey. In 2009, researchers at the University of Liege in Belgium monitored 15 extreme night owls and 16 excessive early birds in a lab. In the morning test, the early birds and the night owls performed almost the same in their responsiveness. But, after 10.5 hours, the night owls demonstrated faster reaction times and were more awake than the early birds.
Through my 10 years of research, I found it incredibly challenging to understand why a gender difference also exists in this matter, but there happen to be countless plausible possibilities seen from an adaptive perspective. Women are found to somewhat more early risers than men. Further, it has also been observed that as people start to age, they tend to rise earlier in the morning.
Gaining profound knowledge on circadian rhythms can be applied to maximizing creative output. But, it is crucial to recognize that such recommendations are necessarily tentative. Most highly creative and highly productive people are erratic. They do not fit into the most obvious patterns.
Legends like Niccola Tesla, Leonardo, and Thomas Edison took countless brief naps throughout the day spending only a few hours asleep each day. No wonder their ample awake time contributed to their well-deserved fame.
6 Exemplary Ways You Can Turn Any Time Into Your Creative Moment
We all want to know how to be creative in those moments that seem completely dreadful and leave us totally in brain freeze or uninspired. It just seems like any or all of the ideas have reached a standstill. I feel you. It happens and is completely normal.
Instead of having a panic attack, let’s try to figure out together how to be creative, even on off moments of the day. Here, I have enlisted down a little advice to help bring your work into sync with your daily rhythm-
- Pay Attention
I will give you an instance. Sometimes while you are writing assignments, your body tells you when it’s ready to rock and roll or when it’s all set to crash and burn. If you can’t keep your eyes open, higher chances are that you are not at your creative peak. And your body is telling you to seek assignment help.
More than often, you have to look closely to determine where in your days our minds are performing at peak levels.
- Take A Walk
In the opinion of eminent Stanford researchers, walking improves creativity. They claim, that on average, creative thinking increases by 60% when there is walking involved. While walking, not only one gain inspiration but then it continues to come even when after you return to the desk.
- Make Room For ‘Playing’
When I think of some of the most creative years of my life, I often go back to my elementary years. It is seen at the age of five, you are at 80% of your creative potential as you are inventing all the time.
The only difference between the past and the present is that back then, you allowed yourself to play. They were no set goals, just an idea and the freedom to create whatever you wanted.
I suggest giving yourself a room to play. I promise you won’t regret it.
- Take A Trip
Often, it’s not enough to change rooms or even change buildings. Take a trip out of the town to be around a new culture. As per a study conducted by Adam Galinsky, “new sounds, smells, languages, tastes, sensations, and sight sparks different synapses in the brain”. Even new experiences that are completely unrelated to creativity can bring new perspectives and ideas when you return to the office.
- Listen To A Podcast
There remains a podcast for almost anything in this world. Podcasts are amazing for car rides but also a brilliant replacement for music while you work. Instead of listening to your favorite music stream, you can check out a podcast that will bring new insight as you focus on your work.
- Collect Creative Sites
Unarguably, Pinterest remains the world’s largest inspiration site, but there are several other places that might suit your industry the best. Like, if you are a designer, you can take inspiration sites from Dribble or Behance. Whatever you enjoy, search those key sites that you can bookmark and refer to for creative reminders when you hit your creative roadblock.
Parting Thoughts,
As Austin Kleon puts it, “It takes a lot of energy to be creative.” We need to not only find our best creative time in a day, protect the energy, but also use it well.
Understand that some people work better at midnight, while others do their best work early in the morning. And, undoubtedly, there are some who lie somewhere in the between. You should never feel like you have to sleep or work according to a preconceived notion of working hours. Pay attention to your energy levels and work with them rather than against them. But also remember, what works today might not work tomorrow, so keep your creative mind alive and open up to new possibilities.
Author Bio
Olaila Lee is an eminent author and active blogger, all the way from the USA. She is a proud member of MyAssignmenthelp.com, providing quality homework help services to students for 10+ years now. Charlotte is also a doting mother to two sons and loves spending time with them when she is free.
