Wheel of Distraction
Frame a creative problem you are stuck on, then spin the wheel and go and do something else. The idea often turns up when you stop looking for it.
Updated
Wheel of Distraction
1. Frame the creative problem. The chapter describes a study at a Dutch university. Each undergraduate got a creative problem, such as inventing names for new pastas, naming Dutch places that start with the letter A, or finding uses for a brick.
2. Do something absorbing that has nothing to do with it. One group got three minutes to think about the problem. One group answered straight away. A third group spent the three minutes on a boring task instead: tracking a circle on a computer screen and pressing the space bar whenever it changed color.
3. See what came out. The chapter says the group that was distracted gave more original answers than the others. Their pasta names were less like the examples they were shown, and they named more small Dutch villages and fewer big cities. The researchers’ explanation, as the book tells it, is that the boring task kept conscious thought busy, which freed up unconscious thought to do the creative work.
4. Pick your own distraction. The board game turns that into a spin. Frame your problem, spin the wheel, and go and do whatever it lands on. Even if you do not come up with a good idea, you will have had a good time, and the idea will pop up later.
Write down your problem below, then spin.
How to play
- Frame the problem. Spend a few minutes on a creative problem you are stuck on, then write it down.
- Spin the wheel. It picks a distraction at random.
- Do it. Properly, and leave the problem alone. Do not sit there thinking about it.
- Come back and write down what popped into your head. However small or silly.
The book’s instructions end with this: even if you do not come up with a good idea, you will have had a good time, and the idea will pop up later.
Why a distraction helps
The Left Brain, Meet Mr Right chapter argues that after you have worked on a problem for a while, your brain needs a rest from concentrated thought so it can wander and make less obvious connections. It goes further. If you give your brain something absorbing and unrelated to do, you help it solve the problem, because it can work without logic and analysis getting in the way.
The chapter backs this with a study, described in the worked example above. The people who were distracted for three minutes gave more original answers than the people who thought hard about the problem. The researchers’ explanation, as the book tells it, is that the boring task kept conscious thought busy and freed up the unconscious to do some nifty creative work.
What makes a good distraction
The wheel is full of things that are absorbing without being about your problem: a crossword, a bus ride, cooking, a game of chess. The book asks for something absorbing and totally unrelated to the problem.
Where this comes from
This is the Wheel of Distraction board game from the Left Brain, Meet Mr Right chapter, played on screen. The book’s board has 16 spaces and you spin a pencil. The wheel here has 13: we left out three that do not suit a workplace site (an alcoholic drink, and two that involve nakedness and sex) and took the brand name off the building-blocks space. Nothing you type leaves your browser and nothing is stored.
Questions
How long should I spend on the distraction? The book does not say. Long enough to be absorbed by it.
What if I hate what the wheel picks? You can spin again, but try it first. The point is a break from your usual way of thinking.
What if nothing pops up? The book says the idea will turn up later. Write the problem somewhere you will see it again, and keep going with your day.