Want to be more creative — think again.

One of the aspects of working at an agency that I love the most is the shifting from one account to another and one challenge to another.  It's a constant mental wind sprint.  But sometimes, after really sinking into a project — I need a little help to etch a sketch my brain and start fresh.

I've found that a 5-10 minute shift in the kind of thinking I do really does cleanse my palette.   A quick round or two of scrabble or sudoku usually does the trick.

Now here's what I find interesting.  I usually will do a sudoku puzzle until I get stuck.  At that moment, I see no additional solutions.

But when I go back to the same sudoku puzzle the next day or even a few hours later — I always see the answer.  I don't know what it is about my brain that renders it blind one minute and a day later, it sees all.  (I'll bet Robyn McMaster or Ellen Weber will know.)

But…my brain is cooking enough to recognize there's a lesson in that for all of us.  We're all working at such a crazy pace today.  We push to cross things off the To Do list and all too often, we don't go back to add another thought or take one more crack at finding a better solution.

We don't think again often enough.  I think when we fail to do that…when we do not walk away and then pick it back up, we're leaving much more than scraps on the table. 

Do you build in think again time?  Do your processes or systems support going back for another look?  Have you mastered this?  If so…tell us how!