When is it better not to focus?

Advances in neuroscience and psychology have provided new insights to how our brains function. These insights reveal there are times when doing our best work may require us to not consciously focus on it.

It might seem counterintuitive but not focusing on work allows a different level of thinking to occur, a level and breadth of thinking that happens at the unconscious level. Dutch psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis and his colleagues developed the concept of Unconscious Thought Theory (UTT) which posits that conscious and unconscious thought have different characteristics that make each type preferable for different circumstances. Their research suggests that decisions about complex matters are better approached using unconscious thought[i].

It seems our brains access greater neural bandwidth when we are relaxed, away from a situation and not consciously thinking about it.  Perhaps that’s why those creative insights or a solution to a tricky problem will come to mind when we are out for a run or taking a shower.

Taking time to step away from our work allows our brains to synthesise information, make connections and mull things at the unconscious level. Buckner, Andrews-Hanna and Schacter[ii] discuss 30 years of brain imaging research to define the brain’s default network, a group of brain regions that show lower levels of activity when we pay attention and higher levels of activity when we are awake but not involved in any specific mental exercise. It is during these times that we might be recalling memories, envisioning the future, conceiving the perspectives of others, all things that we do when we find ourselves just "thinking" without any explicit goal in mind. This sort of thinking is necessary when we need to develop a solution by considering disparate views, making connections between data, plan for the future and draw on past experience.

Taking time out is invaluable for our brains to access the broadest range of thought and why it is counterproductive to be connected to our work via messages and email every evening and weekend. As Cal Newport points out in his book Deep Work[1], a shut-down habit is not necessarily reducing the amount of time we work but diversifying the type of work we do.

So let’s give ourselves permission to switch off, relax and let our brains do their thing. Not focusing might just be one of the most productive actions we can take!

[1] Newport, C., (2016) Deep Work, Piatkus

[i] Dijksterhuis, A. & Nordgren, L.F., (2006) A Theory Of Unconscious Thought, Perspectives On Psychological Science, June 1, 2006 Volume 1 issue 2 p 95-109

[ii] Buckner RL, Andrews-Hanna JR, & Schacter DL (2008). The brain's default network: anatomy, function, and relevance to disease. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124, 1-38