Letting Go Hastens Productivity, Creativity

Tired of writing endless to-do lists with tasks that never get done? How about promises to yourself that remain unfulfilled? Maybe it’s time to use the technique of letting go. You’ll be able to take advantage of situations to become more productive.

Does this sound familiar? You’re wrestling with a problem, examining the information from every angle. You reach a point where you can’t think about it anymore, so you stop working on it and let it “sit” while you go on to other tasks. Suddenly, like magic, the solution appears to you. You have this epiphany where the answer you strived so hard to find just happens.

Or how about these. We have all begun conversations about a particular item and five minutes later find ourselves on a completely different track. Wondering how you got there, you retrace the conversation and realize how one association led to a different thought and this led to another association, making the conversation jump around until you are on this completely new topic. It’s the same feeling you get when you’re driving a car and when you reach your destination you don’t remember getting there.

The common thread that ties all these experiences together is the subconscious mind taking over. Deliberately “letting go” is an asset in problem solving and solution seeking. Letting go is when we deliberately release the subject from our consciousness, allowing the brain or subconscious to take over. This is really a form of incubation. Here’s what happens when you’re incubating:

• A problem arises. Data, facts and information are gathered.
• Solutions are sought, but success eludes you.
• You reach the point where you can’t think about it any more, so let it rest.
• Hours, days or even weeks later, you experience joy as the answer appears.

Here are some methods to harness the power of incubation:

• When you need to “let go,” switch to a very different activity, engaging your mind in a totally new way.
• Don’t accept the first ideas that come to you. Build extra time into tasks. Creativity flourishes when there is freedom and room for expansion.
• Change your environment. Go for a walk, run errands, rearrange the furniture or anything else that lets your mind rest.

Setting the scene for incubation to succeed is similar to a three-act play. The first act sets up the action and the characters. In creative problem solving, the first step in using incubation is to define the problem and gather all the data. In the play the curtain is closed between each act, allowing the audience to relax and prepare for the next act. For incubation to work it is imperative to “let go” or stop the action, like closing the curtain, to allow the mind to prepare for the next step. In the second act, solutions are sought, but the answers aren’t ready to appear. After another rest between acts, in the third step or the third scene we experience the joy when the answer appears.

Write your to-do lists, make you resolutions and chart your goals. Make a plan of action and then “let go.” Your subconscious will continue to work. Take advantage of incubation and you’ll allow yourself the freedom to be creative in a new way.

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