The Mind Gap

The Gap is vital to creative realisation.

The anecdotes of taking a hiatus, taking a break, stepping away for a moment and then returning, only to discover the perfect solution, are ubiquitous. And, I have to say, in my experience, unrefutable.

I have experienced it in branding brainstorm sessions, in TVC editing suites and in the Aikido Dojo.

My comments here are not based on the scientific method, just 42 years of casual observation.

But it certainly seems that there is a gap required between the initial work done by the conscious mind identifying and working on a problem, and the fruition of a solution in the subconscious mind, which then needs time to surface in the conscious mind. Hence the old saying: “Let me sleep on it.”

So, unless you are working according to some perfectly predefined equation or scientific law, my suggestion is, when you are trying to solve something, take the mind gap. Your subconscious needs the time to process and present back to the conscious mind.

And, you also need to give yourself a break.