7 Check Your Knowledge: Stage 2 – Incubation

Incubation is the second stage in the Creative Process.

The first stage, Preparation, can cause a creative person to become too fixated on the problem at hand. At some point, the mind needs a new way to think about the problem in order to move past Preparation.

Incubation is a process of cultivating the subconscious and allowing the mind to explore new pathways and neural network connections, in order to come up with new ideas.

The Forgetting Fixation Theory states that “activities that temporarily distract a problem solver can lead to forgetting of interfering information, which then leads to a greater likelihood of retrieving new, relevant information.”

Being busy with something else, especially rote tasks, can give the mental space that leads to unexpected insights relevant to unsolved problems.

Mind-wandering is a key component of Incubation and in the creative process it is not a sign of laziness or unwillingness to work.

Boredom is a hugely beneficial state for the mind to be in while working on a creative project.

And the Mind-Body Connection can help foster Incubation by physical movement.