Step away
Make the break between generating and judging a real, physical act.
Variants
- default
Data fields
The fields a spec's page can set for this component (see switchback show step-away --json):
suggestion
Grounding
Helps: when an open-ended problem has had a proper first pass: setting it aside for a real break, filled with something easy and different, helps on average, more for generating ideas than for insight puzzles
Backfires: when the break is a few minutes of scrolling or other demanding work, when the first pass was too short to have anything to incubate, or when the problem is easy or well-structured
- BSetting a creative problem aside for a break, then returning to it, increases solutions or ideas compared with working on it continuously for the same total time.Sio & Ormerod (2009), Baird et al. (2012), Cai et al. (2009), Nieuwenstein et al. (2015)
- CIncubation benefits are larger (a) after a longer preparation period, (b) with longer breaks up to a point, and (c) when the break is filled with a low-demand activity rather than rest or a demanding task.Sio & Ormerod (2009), Baird et al. (2012), Ellwood et al. (2009)
- CWalking, compared with sitting, increases divergent-thinking output during the walk and shortly after it.Oppezzo & Schwartz (2014), Frith et al. (2019)
- CSleeping between first exposure to a problem and a later retest increases the likelihood of discovering a hidden solution or rule, compared with an equal period awake.Wagner et al. (2004), Cai et al. (2009), Sio, Monaghan & Ormerod (2013), Lacaux et al. (2021)