Greetings, writers—
I can no longer recall where, but in some no-doubt very interesting creativity or productivity book, I read that the best way to solve a (writing) problem is to leave it where it is and go do something else entirely. But not just anything else—it has to be the right kind of something else.
While writing the above paragraph, I remembered that there’s an episode of 30 Rock that suggests the same thing. (So naturally I google “Jack Donaghy distract problems liz golf” and find the episode, which is called “The Shower Principle”; in it, Jack realizes that the only distraction capable of inspiring new and wonderful ideas in him is Liz Lemon herself. I also learned that “showerthoughts” is a whole internet thing. But I digress.)
The point is, distraction as an aid to creativity is an old idea, bolstered by new brain research.
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