The great thing about that? Is that life hands us mind-emptying tasks All. The. Time. Tasks where all we have to do (all we really can d0) is go through the motions.
And think about it: when we're going through the motions, we don't really need to use any cognitive part of our brains. A lot of times this is when we overthink little things or when we simply zone out all together. Ever gotten in your car, driven home, then not known how you got there? This is repetitive motion in action, my friends. Imagine if we took all that zoning-out time and put it to good work?
For example, here is my number one, all-time-favorite mind-emptying task:
Doing the dishes.
Sometimes (I can't say always, because hey, I'm human, but sometimes) I really like doing the dishes. Sometimes doing the dishes is the only time I get in a day to think without any interruptions. It's just me and The Mr. right now, but even when I was growing up, I liked to do the dishes and think.
Think all my think-y thoughts, so that I can have thunk them. Or not think. Just empty out my brain so that I can clear some space for new thoughts (read: story ideas!) to emerge.
I cannot tell you how many fresh ideas I have gotten while doing the dishes.
I don't go into this like I'm going into battle. I don't start doing the dishes thinking, "I have to figure out how _______ does _________ or ELSE." That never works. Or at least it never works for me. If I don't stop thinking about a problem, I can never see the solution because I'm too caught up on the fact that it's a problem!
What I DO is think "I have to figure out how _______ does _________." And then I stop. I let my mind blank out like it naturally would, nudging errant thoughts aside as they come.
And you know what? Often the solution presents itself to me, all nicely tied up in a bow. Sometimes it's so perfect I have to ditch the dishes and get it down on paper as fast as I can.
Dishes aren't anywhere near my only means of doing this, by the way. Any type of busy work will do. Gardening, cleaning, the possibilities are endless!
Lisa Asanuma graduated with a Literature degree from the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara. She has worked as a freelance writer and as an editor for Drollerie Press, and she is the co-founder of Type Set, Inc, an editing and formatting service. She’s currently working on a YA fantasy novel, but in the meantime she publishes a new short story for free every other Friday at Tales From the Hollow Tree, a fiction blog she shares with author Isabelle Santiago.
I do my best thinking during bubble baths. Also, laundry seems to be high on that list, too.
ReplyDeleteI am the same as Miranda, I think best in the bath!
ReplyDeleteI love the bath too! But usually I use that for reading... it's almost the only time I can read a full chapter at once!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I have a lot of those mindless chores where my mind can sit and brew over parts of my story or something I have been studying. I hate laundry but it usually ends up being one of my best mindless chores.
ReplyDeleteYES! I'm the same way Lisa. But I especially loved that you suggest we embrace these mindless activities as an opportunity to "book dream". Too often we think these things are interfering with our writing time when really--it's just a different kind of writing time!
ReplyDeleteI think we should put it good use!
I have great ideas in the shower. My mind is blank because the motions are automatic, so sometimes I come up with a good sentence or a better idea for a chapter, or I even have a good idea for work. It's like it comes out of nowhere.
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