Procrastination and Creativity

I turned on a TED Radio Hour podcast while I was chopping onions to freeze, and found this one on how procrastination (or more precisely, leaving things unfinished so your brain is still working on them at some level) works to boost creativity. It struck me how this particularly applies to writing, and how putting your project away for a bit gives you a new perspective when you come back. And I'm not talking about just the ability to see errors and typos that you passed by before, but on a deeper, story-building level.

For me, continuing to think about a project while not actively working on it is how I come up with dimension and layers to both characters and plot. It's a way for me to set aside those obvious, linear plot devices and come up with an unexpected twist, or see relationship dynamics between characters that I hadn't even known were there.

Well, it seems there are actual studies that have shown this is true, and Adam Grant talks about them here