The “Incubation Period” Mechanisms
- Eliciting new knowledge: when you stop problem-solving, your brain keeps working on it in the background and may come across memories you may have ignored when you were actively trying to think about the problem.
- Selective forgetting: an incubation period weakens the unhelpful solutions that are distracting you.
- Problem restructuring: stepping away from the problem lets your brain reorganize the problem.
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Creativity: The Incubation Period
After a problem has been examined and analysed, creative thinkers often hit a roadblock, which is actually an ‘incubation period’ where the brain works in the background to process information at an unconscious level.
This results in an ‘aha’ or a ‘Eureka!’ moment when the solution or idea...
The power of the incubation period
For many years, scientists have found that amazing ideas, solutions to problems and obstacles often come to people when they aren’t actively trying to develop a solution.
The incubation period works because your brain gets to take a break from everything distracting you.
Using The Incubation Period
When you're struggling with a problem or decision take a break from thinking hard.
Some studies say an incubation period as short as 10 minutes might be enough to gain a new perspective. But that’s not unanimous, so you might want to experiment to discover what works for you.
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