The concealed power of boring tasks in boosting your creativity

With a demanding job that I have been performing at home since the start of the pandemic, I find my days to get pretty full on, often with no break, until… It's time for the household chores at the end of the day.

Whether it’s washing the dishes, tidying up the kitchen or doing the laundry, weirdly I find these moments rather relaxing.

If I’m not using this time to listen to a podcast, I just focus on the task at hand; and as if by magic, seem to come up with the best ideas, or the solution to a work problem that would have been nagging me all day, unresolved till then.

Why is that?

I was curious to understand this recurring phenomenon, and found the answer in neuroscience. 

But let’s start with context.

It seems that many people tend to get more creative when in the shower. In fact, scientific studies show that our brains are more prone to creativity when our minds are at rest, as opposed to actively thinking about something.

In my case, it’s not the shower, but the mindless household tasks that most people would describe as dull and boring, that afford me those peaceful moments; those moments that Scott Barry Kaufman (psychologist and cognitive scientist, co-author of Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind) explains come about in these solitary and non-judgmental environments that allow your mind to freely wander.

I find this simple description to be precisely what I’m experiencing that minute I put the rubber gloves on.

Breaking into solitary, non-judgemental moments

I carry out my household chores at the end of the working day, breaking from the intensity of work and thus forcing my brain to disengage from any work-related obsession: when I am washing the dishes for example, I’m on my own, sometimes listening to music, mindlessly scrubbing away. It’s the monotonous aspect of the household chores that allows my mind to relax. 

In these moments, I seem to be at my best for creativity and problem-solving: here's how to approach this challenge at work; here’s an idea for my daughter’s lockdown birthday party; here’s how I’m going to fix that broken thing (yes, I can get creative with DIY solutions!); and so on. 

Ideas. However big or small... in those moments when I am in autopilot, judgement-free mode, practically in a state of daydreaming, that allow my brain to go off wandering: household chores are my version of most people’s solitary walk or shower.

With happiness on top

It’s all good to be carrying out mindless tasks, but there’s more to it to get the creative juices going. Neuroscience explains how a relaxed feeling matters during those mindless moments, in inspiring creativity.

It’s a complex topic to do with how our brain is wired, and I won’t claim to understand neuroscience well enough to make sense of it all. But a key takeout is that an important factor to enhanced creativity is the release of dopamine.

Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, sometimes called a chemical messenger because it is used by our nervous system to send messages between nerve cells. Our body tends to produce more of it when we feel relaxed and happy.

When combined with a distraction from intense, considered thinking, an increased flow of dopamine can lead to those moments of creativity. 

The nucleus accumbens [a core structure in the basal forebrain] is particularly activated during problem-solving and the associated Aha!-moment. It is part of a dopaminergic network that is activated when joy or reward are experienced. Dopamine is in turn responsible for communication between this network and other areas of the brain that are associated with important functions such as emotions, memory processes or alertness.

'Dopamine-producing areas of the brain inspire creativity’ by the Medical University of Vienna, 2018

The magic formula

If you’re stuck on a problem and need a burst of creativity, there are many ways to go about it.

One of them is to break from that deadlock and distract yourself with a tension-free, habitual task that allows your mind to go off and wander, and that puts you in a relaxed state of mind.

Admittedly, for most people I don’t think that household chores qualify as relaxing tasks (they are more likely to induce boredom); I am probably in a minority. For most, I guess the mindless relaxing moments are more akin to going for a run, taking a shower or a stroll. But I think the same principles apply.

I summarise what's going on with my household chores moments as follows:

Distraction x Dopamine = Creativity.

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Mai Fenton is Chief Marketing Officer at Superscript, a London-based Series A tech scale-up that provides flexible, customisable business insurance for small businesses by monthly subscription.

Mai has worked across a range of businesses from start-ups through to multi-million pound global enterprises, with a diverse background which spans FMCG, lifestyle, retail, ecommerce and technology.