A Lesson from Rip Van Winkle — When Solving a Problem — “Sleep on it”

Model of Creative Process by Graham Wallas (1858-1932)

Have you ever been working tenaciously on a problem, determined not to finish working until the problem is solved? Type-A personalities are notorious for this. But often they are engaged in a process as futile as that of Sisyphus of Greek Mythology — You keeping pushing mightily on that boulder, only to have gravity pull it tumbling back at you. Or, at that point in which you are stymied, you take off you glasses, rub your weary face, dim the lights, and say to yourself, “I’d better sleep on this.”

Then, after you slumber, you awaken to an “aha moment” and the logjam is broken — and there it is, your breakthrough idea. Whew!

This is not unusual. Ideas often emerge to us in dream states. The prolific philosopher Aristotle knew this. So he cultivated it. He would get in bed at night clutching a copper ball with a metal platter lying under his arm. As he would drift off to sleep, the ball would slip from his hand, and the bang of metal on metal would awaken him, keeping him in a twilight state in which profound ideas would flow. Then he would write them down and resume his position in bed, and repeat the process.

Paul McCartney awoke from a dream to scribe the melody of a song which was to become “Yesterday”. Keith Richards pushed himself out of bed just long enough to record the guitar riffs of “Satisfaction” into a tape recorder. These are all examples of creative incubation which can be described as taking a break and doing anything off-task — yes, like sleeping, or taking a walk, or going shopping.

One formal description of Incubation is: “At this stage, you take a step back from the problem and allow your mind to wander to let it contemplate and work the problem through. You nurture the unconscious thought process, for example, by staying open to the ideas that come to you while you do the dishes or go for a walk.”

Einstein was said to have imagined the essence of the Theory of Relativity while taking a shower. It is often a mindless task. For me, ideas have come while balancing my checkbook (when I did that), jogging, or reading a book or watching a movie on something entirely unrelated. A friend of mine solved a “sticky problem” by imagining a new process for making homogenized drywall paste on a tour at a peanut butter factory while on a field trip with his son’s 4th-grade class. Da Vinci was said to have conceived of the helicopter by relaxing and watching tree seeds twirling to the ground. When one’s mind is relaxed and open, it is an open invitation for new ideas to inhabit your grey matter. It’s like putting out a welcome mat.

So the next time you’re at an idea impasse, take a break, take a walk, take a nap — incubate!