Finally, my jaunty narcissus, with their delicate fragrance and puff of cream, have officially broken into a song of Spring.
Of course, this cheery outdoor bloom is a bit offset by all the crunchy, brown leaves and dried out twigs scattered around them.
But, hey! As much as I’d love to clean up outside, my CreativeSelf is in full bloom inside. And that is a creative spring I’m not about to neglect.
Last time we checked out chronotypes and how paying attention to your natural rhythms helps you intentionally activate creativity.
Remember that crucial insight about your daily slump?
Turns out, that’s just the beginning.
Why Sleep & Rest Drive Your Creativity Forward
Sara Mednick’s groundbreaking sleep research revealed something fascinating and counter-intuitive: those “unproductive” moments, when your brain craves rest, are unmined, glittering gems of creativity.
Mednick’s studies show how your REM sleep—during a full night’s rest or a strategic afternoon nap— substantially improves your ability to make unusual connections and solve creative problems.
Think of REM sleep as your brain’s private gallery opening, where ideas that would never meet in waking life suddenly find themselves in conversation. During REM, your neural networks play with combinations that your conscious mind might ignore or dismiss.
The best part? You can expand your creative options by using Mednick’s research for yourself.
One 90-minute afternoon nap, rich in REM sleep, can begin to reproduce the creative enhancement that longer rest periods give us.
Or shorter naps (20-30 minutes) can boost specific types of creativity, particularly if you review your creative challenges just before closing your eyes.
For those who can’t manage longer naps, there’s still good news. Mednick’s team found that consistent nappers develop more efficient “sleep architecture” over time – your brain learns to access creative sleep stages more quickly during shorter rests.
The key isn’t how long, but how consistent.
And, your weekend recovery matters too. Allowing yourself, once or twice a week, to sleep until naturally waking (no alarms) refills your creative cup from days of overuse.
Three Ways To Harvest Your Creativity
The most practical approach? Start with what fits your schedule:
- A 20-minute power nap during your natural afternoon dip because this timing works with your circadian rhythm to enhance specific memory processing.
Note: Mednick’s studies show these shorter naps are effective for sharpening your rational processing while making creative associations.
- A 40-60 minute “sweet spot” nap that includes light REM sleep because this duration allows your brain to enter creative problem-solving modes.
Note: Mednick’s research validates that naps containing REM sleep significantly improve your creative connections and pattern recognition.
- One morning a week of unlimited sleep because it allows your brain to complete multiple REM cycles, maximizing your creative potential.
Note: According to Mednick’s findings, REM-rich sleep periods are crucial for enhancing divergent thinking and your creative problem-solving abilities.
And for an extra creative kick:
Before resting, briefly review any creative challenge you’re facing. Forget trying to solve it; your sleeping brain will work on your problem for you, behind the scenes.
About Your Creativity, Ask Yourself…
What if those moments when I feel least productive are actually my brain’s way of calling me to deeper creativity?
What creative insights might show up if I stop fighting my need for rest ? What if I use rest as a transformational tool for my artistic growth?
How wide could I cast my Creativity Net if I began to challenge the productivity mania our cultural peddles to all of us?
P.S. If you decide to set an intentional Creativity Rest, let me know how that goes for you.
Tell me in the comment section at the end of this post and I promise to respond!
P.S.S. If you want to work with me, here are three places to start.
I’ve been prowling around online, visiting artist websites, and honestly, I’m disappointed. About pages are so neglected it makes me cringe! Forget artist statements; there are barely any boring bios either. Or sometimes a slap-dash, mish-mash of both, with neither winning.
But, there is an obvious solution. It requires that you take charge. That you value how people think about your work (words). That you value what you think (also words!) about your work. Because the people who love your work do value what you think. So, tell them!
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It creates influence beyond the expected.
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See my work with artists here: arianegoodwin.com
Jump into my pioneering work on the Inner Teen & Radical Creativity here: Substack
