Be More Creative: Take A Nap, Or Don’t

As someone equally obsessed with the processes of sleep and creativity, I came across an interesting fact this weekend.I’m almost finished with Eiffel’s Tower: And the World’s Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count by Jill Jonnes. Thomas Edison is a prominent figure in the book and there are multiple references to how revered and celebrated he was by the France. In his day, people outside of the U.S. considered him to be the greatest American. Wherever he went, he was met with loud, raucous cheers of “Vive Edison!” Ironically, he was extremely hard of hearing, and rarely, if ever, heard this exclamation.

Over the weekend, I came across an article in the New York Times that celebrated inventors and their inventions. Mostly, the article, framed in the form of a graphic novella, discusses Benjamin Franklin. However, toward the bottom of one page there is an important reference to Edison. Apparently, he invented the light bulb after waking from a nap. Could that be the secret to his brilliant inventions – napping?

This sent me off on a chase around the Internet to see if there are studies about the effects of rest on creativity. The findings are extensive, scientifically and anecdotally. Turns out that Edison is not alone in his use of sleep as a creative problem solving tool. Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack Nicklaus, and Otto Loewi have had similar experiences.

Many large institutions such as Association for Psychological Science, Oxford University, University of California San Diego, and Massachusetts General Hospital have all recently conducted studies on sleep’s effect on creativity.

Sara Mednick, who conducted the study at University of California San Diego, showed sleep, and in some cases even just rest and passage of time, provides a crucial benefit to creative problem solving processes. Of the study results, Mednick said, “We found that — for creative problems that you’ve already been working on — the passage of time is enough to find solutions; however, for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity.”

This is disturbing news for someone who has had a lifelong relationship with insomnia. Is it possible that all this time I could have been more creative and productive if I had been able to sleep more? This panic then sent me off in another direction on the Internet. Was there such a thing as creative insomnia?

Insomniacs, don’t despair (too much)!

There is hope for us, too, in the realm of creativity. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Marcel Proust, Walt Whitman, Emily Bronté, and Robert Frost all experienced great bursts of creativity on many a sleepless night. (Please note that all of these examples are writers. Coincidence?) However, no scientific studies have proven any kind of link between insomnia and creativity. Not exactly the evidence I was hoping for.

In my quick pursuit of a link between sleep (or sleeplessness) and creativity, I found a lot of anecdotal information for both sides of the argument, scientific evidence to support a link between sleep and creativity, and no scientific evidence of a link between insomnia and creativity.

All things considered, the process of creativity is still an elusive, slippery character. Perhaps uncovering the workings of the creative process is a personal, creative journey in and of itself, with lots of paths to get to the magical “AHA!” moment.

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Christa Avampato works in the field of innovation and product development and is a graduate of of UPenn (BA) and the Darden School at UVA (MBA). Her writing focuses on curating a creative and original life, drawing inspiration from a variety of topics including the arts, books, travel, new technology, and New York City.

In addition to being a regular TJCC Contributor, Christa writes abouts creativity and hope at Christa In New York and about entrepreneurship at Examiner.com. You can also find Christa on Twitter.