[@talebBedProcrustesPhilosophical2016]

“You will be civilized on the day you can spend a long period doing nothing, learning nothing, and improving nothing, without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.”

[@hanBurnoutSociety2015]

_“If sleep represents the high point of bodily relaxation, deep boredom is the peak of mental relaxation.” _

“People who do a job that claims to be creative have to be alone to recharge their batteries. You can’t live 24 hours a day in the spotlight and remain creative. For people like me, solitude is a victory.” — Karl Lagerfeld

“If you want to operate at maximum productivity, efficiency, and creativity, you’re going to work on things that you’re excited about at the moment you’re excited about them and accept nothing less. It is better to sit on your butt and do nothing than it is to work on things that you are not excited about.” — Naval Ravikant ¹

After observing that highly creative individuals like Einstein, Mozart, and da Vinci valued “free-floating periods of thought,” [@andreasenJourneyChaosCreativity2011] studied brain activity during idle moments.

Surprisingly, the brain wasn’t idle at all but rather engaged in active processes. This state, called Random Episodic Silent Thinking (R.E.S.T.) or the Default Mode Network (DMN), is when the brain actively seeks connections and forms associations, making sense of experiences.

DMN is best known for being active when a person is not focused on the outside world, engaged with doing mindless activities (such as walking, running, bike riding, taking shower ,² driving, house cleaning, washing the dishes, hanging up the laundry, going to the grocery store, sitting on the beach/couch/sofa, etc.), and the brain is at wakeful rest (such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering ³).

Incubation Effect (醞釀/孵化效應)

When the brain relaxes sufficiently, creative solutions do appear.

• Our brain is a self-organizing system—default to creativity when it’s in a “wakeful resting state”—free of inputs/free to wander.
• Creativity tends to arise in states of relaxation which are preceded by a long period of focused deep thinking.

For Warren Buffett, it’s a much more important practice to take the time for doing nothing and just sitting and thinking than filling out every minute of his day with tasks.

Free time is nuclear fusion for creativity. Free time is a call option on pursuing future interesting/exciting opportunities.

Boredom Alpha

Your most creative moments come during bouts of boredom. Experiencing regular periods of boredom is a competitive advantage. When you’re bored, your mind wanders, and creative insight (洞察力) strikes.

Boredom is a filter. Common ideas come before it. Uncommon ideas come after it. Stay with a project long enough to get bored with it, and then push yourself even further. The most valuable insights often bubble up after you get bored.