Category: Productivity

Sew Seeds and Things Will Grow

Are you sitting there trying to write an essay, a book or a blog? Trying to write some code for your software project or make a schedule? And nothing’s coming to you? You are getting some where. You’re sewing seeds. You’re giving your subconscious something to work on for you. Sew seeds with your subconscious

Ever hear of someone having an aha moment in the shower? Einstein discovered one of his best ideas while getting on a train. You can stop thinking about a problem but your subconscious will continue working on it for a while. Then sometimes when you least expect it it gives you the answer you were looking for. I’ve read that you subconscious will continue to work on a problem for a while after you’ve given up (I’ve read fifteen minutes, twenty minutes or thirty minutes. Maybe more). That’s how sometimes you try to remember someone’s name or the name of a song, you give up, and later it comes to you. The more times you think about a problem for a short time the more it works on the problem for you in the background.

Maybe you’ve reaped the benefits of that before but just don’t know it. Maybe today you sat down and wrote or solved a problem because you went through a time of difficulty before that. But you’ve forgotten it and just thankful that you’re doing so well now. Never really connected the two.

Your Subconscious Works On It For Free

Since the subconscious will continue to work on a problem after you’ve moved your attention to something else, it’s often very helpful to not spend a lot of time on something when it’s not working and the ideas are not flowing. Every time you take a break, your subconscious mind continues on the problem in the background so shorter and more frequent times spent on the problem work out to more times the subconscious works on it for free. You can go do something else or take a break and the background process is taken care of for you.

The subconscious mind can sometimes solve problems more effectively than our conscious mind. Sometimes I’ll work on a blog for a while, get almost no where, then take a break. When I come back to it nothing feels any different so I don’t expect much. Nothing is different until I start typing. Sometimes it’s almost like I’m just watching myself type. Wondering where all that came from. Sounds like magic but it’s not. It’s been well documented. And who needs documentation. How many times has it happened to you? 

Break It Up

Remember, it’s how many times you allow your subconscious to work on something. Spend an hour on something then come back to it and your subconscious has spent a little bit of time on it.  Or spend 15 or 20 minutes on it 3 or 4 times and your subconscious works on it a lot. You get a lot more of the benefits. For free!

If the ideas are flowing then go for it. If not, take a break and let that powerful part of your mind work it out.