Mind Performance Hacks

Hack #33. Spend More Time Thinking

Become more productive by staring into space—purposefully.

I've suggested elsewhere that sometimes it's useful not to overthink things [Hack #48]. Sometimes, however, it is useful to chew a topic over and over until you know it like the taste of your own mouth.

As part of a recent job, I had to spend up to an hour twice a day commuting on a bus. I spent a lot of time reading. I also spent a lot of time meditating [Hack #60], because if you can meditate on a noisy, crowded bus and not just in a tranquil zendo, you're getting somewhere, and I don't mean downtown. But the thing I did the most by far was stare into space, and I don't regret it at all.

What I was really doing was thinking, pure thinking. Thinking is a wonderful way to spend your free moments. Thinking is portable, inexpensive, and environmentally safe; it requires no equipment, and you can do it even with a serious physical disability. Best of all, since thinking is universally applicable, you can make progress on any problem of interest simply by directing your attention toward it.

The kind of thinking I'm describing is extremely focused. I'm not talking about daydreaming here, although experiments at Yale have shown that daydreaming can increase your self-control and creativity.¹

Warning

Recent research suggests daydreaming might have harmful effects as well.²

What I am talking about is setting some time aside for an extended course of directed thought, which can be hard work but is usually ...