Don’t Cheat When You Take a Break From Writing

Let your subconscious do its thing in peace.

The blessing of a break

One of the many brilliant ways to provide a creative atmosphere for your subconscious is to take a break and go for a walk.

You might also have heard that Agatha Christie was famous for doing dishes to come up with ideas for her stories.

A little side-note: I found several accounts of Agatha Christie claiming to get her best ideas while doing the dishes.

The “Quote Investigator” addresses this “rumor” and quotes an answer by Christie to the following question in an interview in “New York Times” in 1966:

Question: “How do you concoct whodunits that have rolled up world sales of 300-million copies?”

Answer: “Walking or just washing up, a tedious process. Years ago I got my plots in the tub, the old-fashioned, rim kind — just sitting there thinking, undisturbed, and lining the rim with apple cores.” — Agatha Christie

Other people do gardening, I do some household chores, where laundry is my favorite. Or you’ll find me also read one of my favorite books (often by Nora Roberts), while a timer measures usually five, sometimes a little more or a little less, minutes.

Words of caution

But here’s a note of caution. Don’t go for a walk and then demand your subconscious to work in the manner, “So, now I am giving you a break, give me what I want.”

This kind of manipulation is forcing your subconscious mind into the state you think it should be having. But it doesn’t work that way. You don’t work that way! And the more you force, the more your brain resists.

Here is an insightful quote about that with a little amendment from myself:

“No matter what the topic, the brain is compelled to pay attention to small questions. You can try to command your brain — [Write that story, article, or even a paragraph, for goodness sake! (amended by the author of the article)] — but it’s much less effective. Your brain doesn’t like being barked at. It will, in essence, fold its arms and refuse to budge, much like a stubborn child who doesn’t want to put away his toys.”

— Robert Maurer, The Spirit of Kaizen: Creating Lasting Excellence One Small Step at a Time

What to do instead

Instead of forcing, concentrate on that other activity. While doing laundry, do the laundry. While being on a walk, be on the walk and focus on your surroundings and your breathing.

Leave your subconscious do its thing in peace.

Move your consciousness to the present moment and the world around you, as it is, not as you think it should be.

Just remember those times when you go to take a shower — with the sole purpose of committing to your morning routine — only to find ideas appearing seemingly out of nowhere while the water is pouring down on you.

Thus, be where you are and concentrate on what is in front of you, not on what you think you should be doing. It’s worth repeating:

Let your subconscious do its thing.

Trust it. It will never fail you.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, then in addition to the story quoted above, you might also enjoy these two:

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About the author:

Victoria is a writer, instructor, and consultant with a background in semiconductor physics, electronic engineering (with a Ph.D.), information technology, and business development. While being a non-gamer, Victoria came up with the term Self-Gamification, a gameful and playful self-help approach bringing anthropology, kaizen, and gamification-based methods together to increase the quality of life. She approaches all areas of her life this way. Due to the fun she has, while turning everything in her life into games, she intends never to stop designing and playing them.