A few years ago, when I was doing my previous startup, a student once asked me an IITJEE Advanced physics problem.
The question appeared so unsolvable that I asked him, “Are you sure the problem is correct?” Sadly, it was 🙂
I thought about it for a bit but nothing clicked. So sheepishly, I told him, “Let me work on it and get back.”
With the problem still lingering in my head, that evening, I went for a run. And after a few minutes of running, almost in a flash, a clear solution took shape in my head. Without waiting to verify it, I stopped my run, grabbed my phone, and called the student.
And on the phone, I dictated the whole solution, including the multiple reference frames, various components of velocities, and so on.
It turns out that there are two modes of solving a problem: focused mode and diffused mode (popularized by Barbara Oakley).
Cal Newport calls it ‘productive meditation.’ When he has to make some headway on a tough problem, he looks at it long enough to internalize the problem and the data. And then, he goes for a walk.
While there is no guarantee that a solution will emerge, diffuse thinking takes advantage of much wider areas of our brain involved in subconscious processing.
This is one more reason why problem solvers and business leaders shouldn’t always be busy.
You need downtime. And during this downtime, you should be doing nothing — no WhatsApp, no scrolling.
Downtime is not a waste — it replenishes the soul and without it, you will miss out on breakthrough ideas.
– Rajan