How to Find Your Creative Sweet Spot

Published in Lifehacker, February 16 2012

Everyone has a creative sweet spot—a time during the day when you're just better than your normal self. Studies show this! So the question is, when is yours? Let's find out.

We've all found ourselves in the creative zone at some point. It's the moment when you realize the perfect solution to a problem and you start acting it out immediately without worrying about failure. It seems impossible to replicate, but science has shown we all have points in the day where we're more creative than others. The trick is trying to find your creative sweet spot. Let's take a look at the science to kick things off and then move on to some tricks and tools you can use to find your own.

The Science Behind Your Creativity

In the big picture, science has ignored the idea of creativity until relatively recently. It wasn't until 1950 when an American Psychological Association Presidential Address by psychologist JP Guilford suggested that creativity was worth researching. Which is to say, in broad terms, the research is still young. Subsequently, we have a few different theories on when we're most creative. Here's a look at some of our most creative times.

• You're likely most creative when you're groggy : It's thought that problem-solving comes most naturally when you're unfocused and you allow your brain to wander. In a study published in 2011 in the journal Thinking and Reasoning, researchers found that people were more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems when they were tired. For some, this meant in the morning, for others it was the afternoon or evening. Obviously it depends on your body.

• Being drunk helps creativity : Similar to the idea above, a study last year by researchers at the University of Illinois found that you are more creative when you're drunk. The idea is the same as the example above because it reinforces the idea that when you allow your brain to meander it can solve problems more creatively.

• Exercise can make you more creative : Research has shown that exercise can cause a creative burst. The idea here is that when you get your body going and push it you're unfocused and can latch onto more creative ideas.

• We may even be more creative when we're asleep : A 2004 study published in the journal Nature suggests we're more likely to come up with creative solutions to big problems when we sleep on them and look at the information again first thing in the morning.

• Creativity is linked to scheduling : A study published in 2010 in the journal Thinking Skills and Creativity links time management and creativity together as being mutually beneficial to each other. Basically, if you're good at managing your time and creating to-do lists, there's a positive correlation to your creative time. The implication is that you can schedule for and decide to be creative, which is exactly what we'll be looking how to do.

Notice some trends in all this research? Contrary to what we might think, we're the most creative when we're at a non-optimal mental level. This time is different for everyone, but capturing it isn't as hard as you think. Since capitalizing on that time is key to coming up with new and fresh ideas, let's take a look at some of the ways you can time and track your day to find your creative sweet spot.



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