Silence is scary, uncomfortable, and rare. Life is very loud, with music, podcasts, conversation, traffic, rain, television, advertisements, even the tapping of your keyboard. Are you the type of person that relies on background noise to make it through the day? Maybe something playing on Netflix or Spotify as you clean, cook, study, fall asleep, etc? Easy access to noise is so widespread that many use this technique to be productive, myself included. But this may be influencing our ability to think creatively. 

We don’t experience silence often. Even when we mute our background noises, there’s almost always something to be listened to, processed, and focused on. What happens when we turn off our listening ears completely? In other words, how do we internalize our attention instead of constantly spending it on external stimuli? Similar in some ways to the practice of meditation, this is called mind-wandering. 

All our lives, we’re taught that this is a negative thing. In class, we’re not supposed to daydream. At work, we have to focus on our computer screens in order to get tasks done. In reality, the work in front of us distracts us from the ability to tune into our own minds, and vice versa. Both are necessary. 

Contrary to what we are conditioned to believe, purposefully conjuring quietness in order to wander our minds is very productive. It is not often that we have a moment to take a walk in nature without a phone in our pocket or earbuds in, but when we mind-wander, we actually nourish our creative thinking. 

Research suggests that mind-wandering promotes “associative processes – spontaneous formation of associations between previously unconnected ideas” (Williams et al., 2018). Creativity benefits are generated through “internally oriented cognition” (Williams et al., 2018). 

This is also connected to the human need to experience nature. When connected with nature, research has found that we can more easily experience attention restoration. Being outdoors, away from the bustle of work, we are allowed “a period of time when conscious work on a problem stops but through which problem solving is nevertheless facilitated” (Williams et al., 2018). 

In my personal experience, I’ve found this to be true. Like many other people, I usually listen to music or a podcast in the shower. However, when I intentionally leave my phone in another room and allow myself some silence, I come up with some of my most creative ideas. As a songwriter, I’ve noticed that lyrics will come to me when they please, but only if I allow space for these thoughts to flow. This often happens in a quiet shower or late at night when everything is turned off. 

While it may be uncomfortable to think in silence, it is a productive act. If you are a creative, I encourage you to try out some intentional silence and see what is conjured. 

References

Hari, J. (2022). Stolen Focus. Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd.

Williams, K. J. H., Lee, K. E., Hartig, T., Sargent, L. D., Williams, N. S. G., & Johnson, K. A. (2018). Conceptualising creativity benefits of nature experience: Attention restoration and mind wandering as complementary processes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.08.005