By Kyle Emshwiller
To get creative juices flowing, Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine: How Creativity Works, , suggests quick and easy ways to rest your brain and maximize productivity. Among other relaxation techniques, he suggests making the most of your commute to work.
In Lehrer’s book, highlighted in American Express Open Forum, he advises workers who use public transportation to take 10 minutes and close their eyes. For drivers, he suggests leaving 10 minutes early, parking, and spending a few minutes in the car.
So, here’s what you do. Choose an image—one of the example being a beach—and hone in only on that image. If other thoughts pop into your mind—deadlines, meetings, and projects … oh my!—calmly refocus on the image.
But don’t doze off. This mental exercise’s aim is to let your mind focus and relax, not to catch up on some z’s.
Lehrer suggests practicing this twice a day.