Each day we get more and more information. And, we worry how useful it is. In less than 15 years, the amount of information we assimilate has quintupled. So, of course, we feel the effects of overload. But, do we really?
Overload is not having too much information- it’s receiving information faster than we can process it. In other words, it’s not the amount of information, but how alert we are, how capable we are of processing the information presented.
When we are tired, when we are ill, when we’ve heard some distressing news- our brains can’t assimilate new facts as quickly as we are normally able. And, if we are really not paying attention, how can we expect to make this new information our own?
And, as opposed to a program I wrote for my Osborne (CP/M) Computer years ago to let me deal with writing a document, having tables of data, and having a reference document open (aptly called TimeSlice), many of us humans can’t easily flit from one piece of data to the next and not lose something in the process. (Here’s the last time I discussed this issue.)
Way back in 1956, George Miller (Psychology Review: The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information) concluded that we are capable of processing 7 items (+2) simultaneously. That means between 5 and 9. Nelson Cowan either thinks Miller is wrong- or that we have lost some ability- because he believes the magic number is four And, Cowan has been studying working memory for a long time. (Check my index at right for working memory, in case you don’t know to what it refers.) Either way, it’s not an infinite number of items we can juggle at once.
Which is why many of us (at least I do) make lists of things that need to get done (and, with due dates). And, I don’t use pen and paper- because that means I must find the paper, too. Instead, mine is an electronic list (shared on Outlook for my computer, phone, and tablet).
And, it’s also where daydreaming comes into play. (Our brain has two modes of operation: Task positive [executive network]-the mode when we are effecting tasks; and Task negative [daydreaming network].) Daydreaming is restorative- helping our brains make the connections between disparate items to which we failed to see connections before.
When we are stressed, we are continually operating in executive mode. Which is ok (not if we are over-stressed, though)- if it is a problem to which we know the solution. But, if we don’t have a clear pathway to a solution, our daydreaming network is probably more useful.
So, you see not everything demands the use of our executive mode- developing new product ideas, writing a creative piece- they require our daydreaming modality. Daydreaming is the critical mode when we need to develop unique, new solutions to items that we’ve not addressed.
To develop those novel ideas, those new concepts, we need to reduce our stress, turn off the executive mode. Not to “TimeSlice”. A great way to afford our brains the ability to daydream is to turn on some music. Or try that “ommmmmmmm”….
Your new product or idea is counting on it!
