When you hit pause on a video, the screen doesn’t go black. It freezes that last frame you viewed and leaves that image on display. You might ask why that’s relevant, to which I’ll say this:

Contrary to popular belief, when we vacate our desks to stretch our legs, we don’t ‘switch off’. At least, not entirely. While we may feel absent-minded, our subconscious is still going over what we just worked on. Playing and replaying the last ‘fruitful’ thing we did.  This means that even the nature of the disruption does not particularly matter, as the freeze-frame image of the task at hand is still very much active within our heads. Our brains are forever churning out fresh ideas and solutions which will quickly flood in after getting back to work – just press ‘Play’.

There’s a reason we are inclined to be deep and pensive behind the shower curtain. A reason why genius often spurs from the boring day-to-day. Intellectuals have often had their best ideas from an introspective stroll through the moors, or some quality musing over hard-boiled eggs.

This reason is called diffuse thinking.

Diffuse Mode

Diffuse thinking takes a look at the entire system as a whole, helping us form an overview of the subject. It occurs when you allow your mind to wander freely and start making connections at random. Unlike focused thinking, diffuse thinking is all about harnessing the power of the ‘effective interruptions’ you take. This mode of thought does not occur in any specific area of the brain, rather it stimulates neuronal activity across the entire cortex.

And therein lies the beauty: diffuse thinking enables us to draw ourselves away from the level of abstraction from which our minds tend to operate, and link new discoveries with preexisting models of the world around us. Usually, such thinking occurs when doing activities that aren’t directly related to work. While your conscious mind is relaxed, your brain operates seamlessly in the background to generate novel solutions to a problem or expose a link between ideas that had previously been eluding you.

Focus Mode

On the other hand, focused thinking also boasts clear benefits. With focused thinking, your brain processes very specific information deeply. This is useful when dealing with the assimilation of complex information or when we seek mastery of a difficult skill.

For example, a chess rookie cannot aspire to beat an expert within a single afternoon of semi-focused study. Mastering a game like chess requires hours upon hours of deliberate practice. Very, very focused thinking. With diffuse thinking, the brain analyses much more information at once, but in less depth.

The Einstellung Effect

But here’s the catch when it comes to constant focus: Prolonged periods of ‘concentration’ can swiftly become a bad thing when it comes to problem-solving. The longer we keep our brains in focused mode, the more we experience tunnel vision— the lateral networking of ideas becomes an impossible ideal.

This phenomenon – the Einstellung effect – reduces our ability to define the edges/boundaries of the problems we face. That’s why it’s actually an ingenious thing to draw ourselves away from the task at hand and let the diffuse mode run its course for a while. Taking breaks actually allows us to relieve the cognitive load by temporarily putting work on the back burner. This particular burner may yield the smallest flame, but for as long as it’s on, the challenge is still simmering away at the back of the hob. 

This way, the odds of experiencing ‘burnout’ – an extreme case of mental/emotional fatigue, are limited due to the fact we are electing to skip around the fringes of our work on occasion as opposed to perpetually immersing ourselves in it.

A laser with a wider beam versus one with a more concentrated beam can both cut through most materials. It all comes down to what sort of incision you want to make. Different lasers would work better for different situations.

We can use the analogy of lasers to rationalise why both focused and diffuse mode are both such powerful tools. A combination of both types of pulse will yield the best results just as utilising both modes of thinking can help you understand a subject better. For this to be most effective though, you should decide in advance whether you want to focus on the trees themselves, or the forest as a whole. It’s the difference between exam specifics and the exam specification.

Best of Both Worlds

First, we should use the focused mode of thinking to drill into the core fundamentals of a topic. Then we use the diffuse thinking to flit around our newfound knowledge, soak it up and channel it toward forming connections to the knowledge we already have in our possession.

Afterwards, we can dive back into focused mode and really zone in on the largest, most useful connections we made. This forms the backbone in terms of grasping the subject. Once the process has been repeated a few times, our brains become the best sponges.

So next time you’re about to scold yourself for wanting to watch the season finale of Money Heist, just remember this post. Recall the effect that taking a step back and doing other things has on your long-term productivity. Your brain is an espresso machine – ready and waiting for your return to work with a steaming mug of freshly ground innovation.

When it comes to thought, employ the best of both worlds. Embrace the endless toilet theorems, hot-tub hypotheses and concepts running on caffeine. Embrace distraction itself. You will succeed because of such breaks, not in spite of them.

Something to think about:

Does the odd distraction really prove so destructive toward work ethic? However ‘prolific’ you already consider yourself, the answer may still surprise you.