Number two, unplugged

There are some daily activities that force us to unplug, like driving and showering. You shouldn’t use your phone while driving (although maps, music, etc. can mean it isn’t totally screen-free). And have you ever tried taking a phone call in the shower?

Showering and driving are good times to think. Spielberg apparently did his best thinking while driving on the highway. I read that in The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. From the book:

Steven Spielberg claims that his very best ideas have come to him as he was driving the freeways. This is no accident. Negotiating the flow of traffic, he was an artist immersed in an oncoming, ever-altering flow of images. Images trigger the artist brain. Images fill the well.

This really resonates with me. I've pulled over on solo roadtrips just to write. I've also tried dictating notes or a voice memo, but I try to avoid that now because it doesn't feel 100% safe. The longer the drive the better for unlocking ideas.

Cameron refers to these activities that facilitate creative thinking as artist-brain activities:

"Why do I get my best ideas in the shower?" an exasperated Einstein is said to have remarked. Brain research now tells us that this is because showering is an artist-brain activity.

Showering, swimming, scrubbing, shaving, steering a car—so many s-like-yes words!—all of these are regular, repetitive activities that may tip us over from our logic brain into our more creative artist brain. Solutions to sticky creative problems may bubble up through the dishwasher, emerge on the freeway just as we are executing a tricky merge, ...

For me, leaving my phone at home for a walk is another chance to think, unplugged. It is a common experience among programmers to be totally stuck on a thorny problem only to come up with a solution effortlessly on a walk. Other artist-brain activities for me are running, biking, cooking, and cleaning. Those are all things I typically do without my phone.

I’m adding number two to my list. Screen time on the can is typically an interruption for me. But I don’t just want to prevent interruption—I want to maximize my free thinking allotment each day.

There’s also that time warp effect where minutes elapse oddly quickly on your phone. This is most noticeable when someone you’re with grabs their phone, walks to the bathroom, shuts the door, and doesn’t emerge for a while. Most of us probably even have an app icon that our thumb gravitates to reflexively when we sit down and unlock.

I think it'd be fascinating to read good research on common number two behavior. What do people do (e.g. read the news, respond to email, Wordle)? How does activity affect duration (e.g. social media scrollers sit N times longer than texters, on average)? Does it depend on setting (e.g. work versus home versus airports)? Does anyone meditate, sing, or talk aloud to themselves? Does it vary by region or culture (hypothetical study headline: "Americans waste the most time depositing their waste")? What percentage of people's legs fall asleep regularly? Do people still read physical books, magazines, and newspapers?

I just finished my morning coffee, so I'm off to take care of number two, and I'm leaving my phone at my desk.