Why does inspiration come when you least expect it, or at the most awkward of times? While in the shower, driving to the office, in bed just when you’re comfortable and drifting off… I’m sure many of us have kept (or keep) a notebook or something beside the bed to scribble on when inspiration suddenly strikes in the middle of the night, usually to the annoyance of whomever happens to be laying beside you at the time.
so why is this? is a left brain right brain battle for control? I think it could very well be.
At my office we perform various psychoanalytic tests, usually for a bit of fun, although, insightful personality traits & communication issues are highlighted at times. Anyway I know through years of performing these tests I’m split almost 50/50 (averaging 48% left, 52% right), which may explain a lot about how my mind works (although it’s been said by some that I’m 10% left & 10% right!?)
Of course, I’m a typical guy, I can’t find the butter in the fridge & make toast at the same time, I don’t multi-task, it’s one thing at a time for me, if I’m in the middle of writing a proposal and the phone rings or somebody says something, or distracts me ever so slightly, I’ve lost my train of thought & I grind to halt. I know this about myself, so have adapted to it, when I’ve got something I really need to think about, I lock myself awa stick my iPod on and cut myself off from the world… although this works, it has the disadvantage of cutting me off from other forms of inspiration, which can come in all sorts of wonderful and weird ways. The smallest of things can trigger an avalanche of ideas and brain activity that I have a hard job keeping up & writing it down.
Coming back from a client meeting a couple of weeks ago, I not only defined their Mission Statement & core values & thus their Brand, but I’d also worked out the entire identity, without a single pen or scrap of paper, all in 30 mins, while driving my car!!! Now, if only I could tap into that on a regular basis, I could free up so much time, it normally takes me days of brainstorming & piles of paper to do what I achieved in only 30mins.
So I’m guessing that once the left side of the brain is getting on with the mundane process of driving the car, it lets my right brain get on with what it’s good at, without interruption! or am I completely wrong, does inspiration happen anytime, and it’s only when it’s at an awkward moment that you remember it’s interruption so vividly?
So when are you most creative, or inspired by brilliant thoughts and how do you deal with it… and how do you encourage Ms Inspiration to come round & chill with you on your iPod?