Is Your Productivity Suffering?

Your productivity could be way down because you’re killing off your creativity.

Vincent Walsh, professor of human brain research at University College London, attended Cheltenham Science Festival earlier this year and was interviewed by The Telegraph. Among other interesting remarks in regards to napping at work, Walsh said:

“Ideas happen when you allow your brain to make new connections. And it’s not dependent on IQ or age. It may be that you know more when you are older that you can make more connections and so could be more creative.”

Americans have always prided themselves on our work ethic, but we are also proud of our creativity and ideas. Can it be that the two aren’t compatible?

The eager entrepreneur working late into the night to flesh out the next Big Idea is an image with which we are all familiar. But maybe we shouldn’t be perpetuating that stereotype. Maybe we’re killing off the very creativity we revere by expecting our innovators to work ridiculously hard when developing their ideas.

Certainly entrepreneurs spend a large chunk of time on their fledgling businesses by choice. It’s exciting to bring an idea to fruition and it’s scary to risk losing it by being late to market. But maybe someone should turn out the light and tell the entrepreneur to go to bed already and start again in the morning.

It’s good that someone is studying these things and reporting on them. Next, of course, is acting on the knowledge. It won’t happen right away, but if even a few folks start giving themselves permission to sleep, that will be progress!

How about you? Are you a workaholic or do you make time to recharge your creativity?

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