I wrote last week about Focus and Unfocus blocks (here if you missed it).
I’m not the only one who believes in the power of unfocused time.
One lovely reader wrote to explain why she values unfocused time.
It just gives me an opportunity to have some thinking time, so that when I come back to the article, I am clearer about the direction.
But why does it work?
What happens to the brain when we unfocus?
From DAT to daydreams.
I’ve been down a neuroscience rabbit hole and rather than take you with me, I’ll summarise in a few words.
When we’re focusing, we’re using our brain’s DAT – Dorsal Attention Network.
It lets us zoom in on one thing at a time, like the lens of a camera as one article described it (Omniscient Neurotechnology)
When we stop focusing, the brain turns on the DMN – Default Mode Network.
Scientists used to call it the Do More Nothing network because they thought the brain was just resting when it wasn’t actively focusing.
They were wrong.
Through new research, they’ve found out that the DMN is responsible for internal processes like activating old memories, making connections and imagining the future.
In other words, pulling together the threads of our consciousness and creatively weaving them into new ideas and solutions – all while we’re daydreaming or walking the dog.
Yay for the DMN and unfocused time.
I’ve put the book, Tinker, Dabble, Doodle,Try on my to-read list. It looks to have interesting ideas about what to do with unfocused time to increase creativity.
Now for a lovely quiz.
When it’s time to drift off into an Unfocus Block, this is a lovely quiz to get you started.
Yes, it’s on a screen but only takes a few minutes to complete and then you’ll get an outline that may correspond with your creativity.
And to be honest, it’s worth doing just for the originality of the quiz.
When you’re done, you can let me know your results and I’ll tell you mine.
It would be interesting to see if the majority of us are a certain type.
Happy creating and unfocusing. I’m off to daydream 😁
Feel free to get in touch to talk about how I can help you. Email me, sherene@sherenestrahan.com
