It wasn’t a surprise when I noticed a trend among the most successful companies — they all good and incubation and share the same core belief:
Great work takes time.
Making time for great work can be incredibly difficult, and not always in our control, but the benefits are undeniable. Success requires more time for research, incubation, and recovery.
In short, great work requires breaks. Stepping away from work regularly is not only important for our mental health, but one of the keys to unlocking new ideas.
According to a survey, workers who take breaks during the day are 13% more productive than those who don’t. They also have 62% higher scores for work-life balance (aka happiness?).
We’re also seeing a rise in companies around the world testing 4-day work weeks, specifically because it has shown an increase in productivity and quality of life.
The breakfast epiphany
Jerry Seinfeld tells a joke in his standup routine about Pop-Tarts and how unique they were when they launched in the 1960s. This led him to make a movie about the invention of the Pop-Tart, which was just released on Netflix.
Seinfeld writes all of his jokes on yellow legal pads with a blue Bic pen. He has a process, and a big part of his process involves not settling for a joke until it is dialed in perfectly for audience response.
Because of this, he might spend an inordinate amount of time on a single joke. Probably longer than you’d expect. He continually comes back to a joke to replace a bothersome word, adjust the timing, and perfect his delivery.
“I’ve probably been working on [the Pop-Tart joke] for two years… It’s a long time to spend on something that means absolutely nothing. But that’s what I do.” — Seinfeld
He spent two years from idea to completion. For one joke. Before he ever performed it on a stage.
Seinfeld’s process includes intentional incubation: active writing and editing, followed by breaks. Refine, rest, and repeat.
Putting incubation into practice
The best creatives understand the necessity for breaks. They’re willing to work longer on projects, willing to iterate more, and they understand the necessity of stepping away from a project.
Ideas that pop into your head in the shower or right after you wake up are examples of incubation. The ability of our subconscious to shape ideas without our direct attention is an important creative skill.
Our brains prefer larger blocks of time to work on problems.
I’ve been working on my creativity book, The Case for More Bad Idea, for years. Ninety-nine percent of that time was spent thinking, not writing. I researched, contemplated, absorbed the world around me, brushed up against life, and made connections back to the book’s core concepts.
When I work on a new creativity keynote talk, it can take months of iteration, testing, and incubation time for thinking, to dial it in. And even then, when I give the talk to a live audience is when some of the most significant improvements take place.
Time is one of your most powerful creative tools when you can afford it.
Once you understand the broad strokes of a problem, taking a step back and giving your mind space to breathe, leads to great work.
3 tips on taking more breaks and fostering more incubation:
1. No Meeting Days
I know it’s not possible to have a no-meeting day at every company, but if you can swing it, the results are tremendous. An MIT Sloan study found a 35% increase with one no-meeting day per week and 71% with two no-meeting days. I find it hard to do this on Mondays or Fridays, but Thursdays have proven successful for us.
2. Take Small Breaks
Consider using the Pomodoro technique, named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer (“pomodoro” is Italian for tomato). A Pomodoro is 25 minutes of work time followed by a 5-minute break. Using a timer to break work up enhances focus and creativity while emphasizing mental rest.
3. Take Active Breaks
One way to encourage incubation is through using meditative tasks as breaks. These include activities like going for a walk, taking a shower, or driving the long way home. There’s typically repetitive motion and no mental gymnastics, allowing you to relax take a break from active thought, and encourage subconscious reflection.
I’m here for more naps, fewer meetings, and, if we can find a healthy version, more Pop-Tarts.
Consider how you work. Are you intentional about building in breaks and incubation? Do you allow yourself enough time to do great work, truly creative work?