What does sorting Lego have to do with creativity?

Why our best ideas sometimes arrive when we're doing something completely boring.

Like many people, most of my best ideas seem to arrive when I'm doing something mundane - it’s rarely when I’m sat at a desk trying to ‘think’. And apparently, there may be a reason for that.

I've recently been reading Spark by Manoush Zomorodi, which explores the relationship between creativity, boredom and the way we use our brains. She describes something called default mode which activates when we are doing tedious things.

Ideas seem to spark when we least expect it, such as while brushing teeth or walking the dog. 

That is default mode - when the body is at rest, or doing something menial, our mind is at its busiest

Reading this made me think of something my 9 year old son had done recently.  He decided he had to colour-code all of his Lego into tool containers. He spent several sessions over a few days sitting on the floor, sorting enormous piles of Lego into little tool drawers. And while he did it, I’d started noticing something.

First came a little happy humming. Then he started singing a song he used to sing on repeat but I hadn’t heard for  while (Believer, Imagine Dragons - sorry if you now get that little ear worm back - I’ve also been humming it for days now!)

Then came the chatter.

He'd talk to himself, ask himself questions, make little observations and go off on funny tangents. His hands just kept doing the same simple job: pick up, look, sort, repeat.

Understanding more about default mode made me understand a bit more about how his mind was working in that moment. 

He didn't have to concentrate particularly hard on how to sort the Lego. His hands knew what they were doing. That seemed to leave his mind free to wander - to reminisce, explore, make connections and follow whatever thought happened to pop into his head next.

There is also growing research into default mode’s relationship with creative thinking.

Which made me wonder:

How often do we allow ourselves to get into default mode?

We're surrounded by things designed to fill every spare moment. Podcasts in the car. Notifications while we're walking. Screens while we're eating. Something playing while we're doing the washing up. Perhaps sometimes the most useful thing we can do for our thinking is... nothing particularly interesting at all.

So next time an idea arrives while you're folding the washing, don't dismiss it. Your brain might just have been given room to whirr.