Have you ever heard the story about Thomas Edison’s idea naps? He sat on the couch with his head in his hands, propped up on his elbow, holding a few ball bearings.
He would allow himself to drift off to sleep, in order to let his subconscious mind go to work on his ideas – and when he drifted too far into a deep sleep, the bearings would fall to the floor and wake him. He used to do that several time throughout the day.
In a recent presentation on time management I was asked what I did to keep focused and get my creative juices going.
In one of our upcoming Inside Media Sales newsletters, I will expand on some of the management tools I use to help me be more effective in my work.
Take a Break
Here is one tip I can share when I do bigger projects. I do them in 50 minute blocks; I usually have my phone alarm set to go off after exactly 50 minutes.
When the alarm goes off I quietly stop what I am doing, and take a 10 minute break.
It has been said that by simply taking a break after a set block of time it helps the subconscious mind recharge. I usually make a coffee or go for a 10 minute walk.
Guess what happens, 9 times out of ten I will come up with a new idea for that project. It is like distracting your mind to give it a “thinking break”, let it digest what you are doing and maybe, just maybe, spit out something new and refreshing for your project.
So, one of my tips on time management and creativity is to take breaks, as Thomas Edison did, spend some time just relaxing and distracting your mind. Think of it as a break for your subconscious. It seems to work for me.
Being productive and being able to concentrate for a period of time can be a real challenge for many media sales people these days.
If you can think of productivity as blocks of time it will help you to foster your best ideas and make you more productive.
Oh, my 50 minutes is up, time for a break.
Good selling.
PHOTO - tonyVC
