I grew up during an era where daydreaming was considered loafing or wasting time. The prevailing logic was straightforward: If you were daydreaming, you weren’t working. While reading Brian Clark’s blog on the web site “Lateral Action,” I learned there is sound scientific evidence connecting daydreaming with creativity—people who daydream more are more creative, innovative, and better problem solvers. This puts daydreaming into the respectable category of “productive activity.” According to Dr. Teresa Belton, a researcher at the University of East Anglia in England, “Daydreams involve a more relaxed style of thinking, with people more willing to contemplate ideas that seem silly or far-fetched.” This is what sets the stage for creative behavior. To illustrate, Mr. Clark tells the story of Arthur Fry, a 3M engineer and Presbyterian choir member. Mr. Fry marked songs in his choir book with little pieces of paper which routinely fell out causing him to lose his place. During a Sunday service, Mr. Fry started to daydream. What he needed was a sticky piece of paper that wouldn’t fall out of his choir book. As a result, the Post-it Note was born using a glue product that was going to be discarded by 3M because it didn’t stick well enough. The lesson here is that if you want to make your day more productive, spend part of it daydreaming.
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