QUIET Time: The Power of Daydreaming

From: radio.studio92.com

Quiet time has many connotations for me, but mostly, it is a time to NOT pay attention to the things around me.  It is a time to spend thinking, watching, or doing, whatever it is I need to do FOR ME at that particular point in time.

Quiet time is a good thing, and it is something that I think is more and more difficult to find in our hectic multimedia and often over-stimulated lives.  In today's world, with instant messaging, texting, tweeting, and emailing, all of which can be done at home, work, or anywhere our 'smart' phones get reception, there is no down or quiet time.

Last week (http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/11/paying-attention.html), I blogged about the importance of paying attention and focusing on tasks at hand. I briefly discussed an article by neuroscientist / columnist Jonah Lehrer relating attention to executive functioning skills and then listed activities you could do to help boost attention span, energy, focusing and executive function skills.

Jonah Lehrer, while discussing the importance of attention, focus, and executive functioning, presents an alternate argument in another essay "Against Attention" (which can be found in The Wall Street Journal February 21, 2011 or at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/against-attention/). Here he argues for the need to NOT PAY ATTENTION, to 'boot down' to a "quiet" time and place, letting the mind rest and wander.

In Against Attention, Lehrer notes that:

From: hypnotherapyfife.co.uk

We live in a time that worships attention... In fact, the ability to pay attention is considered such an essential life skill that the lack of it has become a widespread medical problem. Nearly 10% of American children are now diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In recent years, however, scientists have begun to outline the surprising benefits of not paying attention. Sometimes, too much focus can backfire...

Lehrer then relates research indicating that:

• There is a surprising link between daydreaming and creativity—people who daydream more are also better at generating new ideas. 
• Employees are more productive when they’re allowed to engage in “internet leisure browsing”.

Lehrer notes that lapses in attention turn out to be a crucial creative skill. He writes that:

When we’re faced with a difficult problem, the most obvious solution—that first idea we focus on—is probably wrong. At such moments, it often helps to consider far-fetched possibilities, to approach the task from an unconventional perspective. And this is why distraction is helpful: People unable to focus are more likely to consider information that might seem irrelevant but will later inspire the breakthrough. When we don’t know where to look, we need to look everywhere.

However, before we all go running for our "quiet" daydreaming time, and start shorting stock in Red Bull and Starbucks, Lehrer also notes that:

This doesn’t mean, of course, that attention isn’t an important mental skill, or that attention-deficit disorders aren’t a serious problem. There’s clearly nothing advantageous about struggling in the classroom, or not being able to follow instructions. (It’s also worth pointing out that these studies all involve college students, which doesn’t tell us anything about those kids with ADHD who fail to graduate from high school. Distraction might be a cognitive luxury that not everyone can afford.)

His point: 

"Sometimes, the most productive thing we can do when trying to solve large problems is to meditate, take a long shower, or a long walk ... The takeaway is that we need to broaden our definition of “productive” thinking."

The key as I see it is finding a balance (as with most things).  We need to be able to focus on work and in school, but breaks are equally essential, and no-doze, caffeine boosts, and Red Bull may not be the best solutions.  The solution, instead, may be an occasional mind trip, walks, yoga, and recess in school balanced and sandwiched between more focused work sessions.

Finding balances:

• When making schedules. leave some quiet, meditative, "relax"  time so that there is less hectic rushing and so that there is some time to use just for yourself - to think, daydream, read or walk in a park or woods. 
• As a parent, this means encouraging focusing time for homework, with short breaks in between.  It may mean spending half an hour or 45 minutes doing math homework, taking a 20 minute break, and then returning to do more homework.  Schedule dinner as a break and outside/play time as well.
• When developing family or school projects, talk about your goals and options with others. Make notes but put those notes down, go for a walk, and come back to the project.  See if other ideas have surfaced and pursue those as well.
• Discuss current events or family decisions together at the table, in the car, or when together.  Brainstorm solutions and options.  Allow for whacky suggestions that you pursue further - whether in jest or not.  
• Model open-mindedness and the value of off-beat ideas, places, and people.

Living in NYC, going for walks is actually more stimulating than relaxing as you navigate texters, dog walkers, joggers, and families walking in your path. For me, quiet time is sitting in the bath or shower.  I really do get most of my more creative ideas, or solve some of my 'issues' there.  I can't think of a day without that time.

Do you easily find quiet time or is it getting more difficult in our mulit-media always-available world to 'boot down'? How do you find and make quiet time? What is it that you like doing in this quiet time and place? Please share your ideas and strategies in the comments.

Paying Attention

From: yastal.ru

"A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention."  Herbert Simon, psychologist.

My son always said he paid attention in school.  It wasn't always to what the teacher was doing or saying, and it wasn't always to the work he had in front of him, but he was paying attention... attention to whatever it was that crossed his mind, or sparked some creative energy.

Personally, I think 'paying attention' is a misnomer.  When paying attention, be it in school, work, or driving, we need to make sure we 'focus' on what we should be focusing on (teacher, books, screen, or the road around us).  And, while this distinction may be simply splitting hairs, I think it is an important distinction.

When something is interesting, stimulating, or important, it is much easier to pay attention.  But there are so many times that things are not stimulating or there are other thoughts, images, or issues vying for the same attention, or we simply lack the energy to maintain attention. 

Here are some things we can do for ourselves and our kids to help us all pay attention:

• Don't underestimate the power of sleep.  A good night's sleep and food for energy are powerful tools to help maintain focus.
• Minimize distractions.  
• At home, prepare proper work spaces where necessary materials are easily accessed (computer outlet, pens/pencils, paper, printer, books, etc.)  See my post on setting up work spaces: http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/03/theme-thursday-sense-of-space-and.html
• Make sure there are no outside noises, lights, entertainment systems near the workspace to woo or distract. 
• Note that music is not necessarily a distraction.   Often music (background music, familiar music) can actually help focus attention.  The problem is that while music helps some focus, it can distract others.  This is something to work out for yourself and/or your child.
• Squeezy toys or small hand manipulatives can also help individuals maintain and focus attention.  Like music, though, it can help some and distract others.  IF your child is having some issue focusing, you may want to try this.
• In school, try to find ways to interact with the materials in class - even if  in a lecture, try to think of questions to ask or ways to use the information.  Play with it, tweak it.
•  Sometimes paying attention simply means slowing down and observing, interpreting, and incorporating details and resisting distracting and competing impulses.
• Jonah Lehrer (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 3, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576542593019231326.html ) relates focusing with strong executive function skills.  Executive functions include focusing, organizing, prioritizing, sustaining and shifting focus, managing and regulating emotions, and self-monitoring. He notes that these skills can be developed and nurtured through difficult board games, computer memory and skill games, yoga, tae-kwon-do, and through interactive curricula in the classroom.

• Establishing and maintaining schedules, helps set and model 'regulation' and may help children resist impulses and focus on the task at hand, knowing other needs will be met at other points in the schedule.  Note, though, that there always needs to be some flexibility in establishing and maintaining schedules.  Being too rigid creates all sorts of issues and conflicts.
• In another article "Attention and Intelligence" http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2010/04/attention_and_intelligence.php Jonah Lehere notes that, 

"...delayed gratification isn't really about gritting our teeth or exerting willpower: it's about controlling the spotlight of attention. Likewise, intelligence isn't just about remembering abstract facts - it's about controlling what thoughts we're thinking about in the first place."

"...So how can we bolster our selective attention abilities?...When we read a complex narrative - say, Proust or Woolf or DFW - we're forced to constantly exert our attentional muscles just to follow along. On a deeper level, however, we're also being asked to switch between different kinds of informational streams. We need to pay attention to the sentence, and to the subtleties of language and character and plot, but we need to also remain aware of the larger themes unfolding in the work."

• Along this vein, go for walks, focus on different things.  Focus on the noises around you, the colors around you, the life around you, the odors around you, and the quiet around you.  Shift focus from one aspect to another, look for large details and small details in the objects around you.  Do this with pictures and illustrations in books and magazines, with sentences and paragraphs, with clothes or items in a store. Intentionally shift focus, see what you notice!

In closing, while writing this post,  this scene from Sister Act 2 (sorry, folks) kept popping into my stream of consciousness:  "If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention..."

And while so true, my next post will present the opposite agrument... quiet time, letting your mind roam and NOT pay attention is also important...

So please leave comments and join me next week for the counter argument.

Comics and Graphic Novels as Attention Trainers

This past weekend in The Wall Street Journal Weekend Review, Jonah Lehrer writes that while managing and focusing attention in school and in work is important, the more creative thinkers have been found to have attentions that wander and roam:

"Those undergrads who had a tougher time ignoring unrelated stuff were also seven times more likely to be rated as "eminent creative achievers" based on their previous accomplishments..Such lapses in attention turn out to be a crucial creative skill."

He does go on to note that these studies conducted were with college students, and results may be  different with younger subjects.  Furthermore he acknowledges how important it is for school-related success to execute mental control over attention.

So where does this leave us?  I see two correlates:

1. In school, it is important for our kids to hone attention to what is being said by the teacher and to attend to the tasks directed by him or her.
2. Finding time to daydream, to depart the text, to brainstorm, to pursue creative venues is equally important.

There are many ways to help your kids pursue creative, brainstorming activities: 

• Read aloud and brainstorm alternative endings and titles to the chapters or to the books.
• When reading, brainstorm sequels.
• Make cakes and cards for parties instead of buying them.  Create and design the cake, invitation, and decorations.
• Build forts in the snow, in the house (with chairs, sheets, blankets, boxes...).
• Design and Create - don't buy costumes for Halloween or other costume parties.
• Brainstorm unusual Sunday activities, or unusual family meals (experiment!).
• Take advantage of local historical sights, museums, nature trails, and events.
• Read all sorts of books, articles and of course, graphic novels, comic books!

As I am in comic book/graphic novel mode (see my "Note" to the right), let's talk about how comic books and graphic novels can help:

Attention and Graphic Novels:  When reading graphic novels, the reader MUST ATTEND to verbal and visual stimuli:

• to the words,
• to the font shape;
• to font sizes, 
• to the illustrations, 
• to the color of the fonts and illustrations, 
• to the foreground and background of the illustrations
• and even to the way the panels (dialogue and picture 'boxes') are laid out on the page. 

This is a lot to attend to and to take in.  Reading these texts in an exercise in controlling and managing attention.  And, because they are so visually appealing and of high interest, readers find these texts extremely engaging.  So, not only will you kids be attending to various stimuli, they may be able to sit longer than usual because they are so motivating.

How to use graphic novels to build attention:

•  If you read graphic novels together (which I recommend):
• Talk about the art -  how it makes you feel, what you noticed immediately, what took time to see and understand.
• Discuss design components and the page layout.  Discuss changes in layout and why the illustrator may have made those changes.
• Ruminate about how word size and fonts all contribute to the story.  
• Look for and discuss details. 

• You may want to create your own graphic novels for favorite book and stories. Doing this forces you to focus on the essential dialogue and story elements.  It provides opportunities to brainstorm about design and layout as well. 

A note of graphic novel selections:

• Please see my blog post of October, 13, 2010 for lists of graphic novel genres, kid friendly graphic novels and publishers, and a brief history of modern comics.
• Also please note that especially for younger kids - adults should be involved in selecting graphic novels.  There are some wonderful ones, but they have various levels of violence and sexual innuendo.  There are many with little or none:  (Laika, Zeus, Athena, Robot Dreams, American Born Chinese all published by First Second Books), The Bone Series and Ghostopolis (Scholastic) have some minor violence but is appropriate for younger readers,  These are just a few suggestions.
• WHEN IN DOUBT SEEK A LIBRARIAN'S ADVICE - most good librarians not only know their graphic novels, they are strong advocates.

Let me know what you and your kids are reading.  We can start a dialogue and recommended reading list.  And, know that the next few weeks will be delve further into the pros (and cons) of graphic novels