Summary: Creative people tend to make better use of downtime by letting their thoughts roam and link naturally from one idea to the next. New research from the University of Arizona shows that creative individuals were less prone to boredom when left alone, because their idle thoughts flowed associatively and kept them engaged.
Across everyday moments and prolonged periods of unstructured time such as the COVID-19 pandemic, creative minds remained more mentally active, reporting less boredom and greater engagement. The findings highlight the value of preserving idle time in a busy, digitally connected world where uninterrupted moments of reflection are becoming rarer.
Key Facts:
- Creative individuals use downtime more effectively by allowing thoughts to flow freely and make associative connections, which often leads to novel ideas.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, people who identified as more creative reported less boredom and greater mental engagement while spending extended time alone.
- The study underscores the importance of protecting idle, unstructured time as a mental resource that fosters creative thinking in modern life.
Source: University of Arizona
Creative people are more likely to make the most of idle moments in a typical day by exploring their thoughts, a new study suggests.
Published in the Creativity Research Journal, the study shows creative people tend to use quiet moments productively by letting one idea lead to another. When asked to spend short stretches of time alone without digital devices, more creative participants reported less boredom and displayed a freer flow of thoughts that linked one concept to the next.
Lead author Quentin Raffaeli, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona, explained the aim: to understand how creative minds behave when nothing externally constrains thought. Senior author Jessica Andrews-Hanna, associate professor of psychology, noted that many studies direct participants to think in particular ways or to recall specific thoughts, but far less is known about how thoughts naturally arise and evolve when people are unprompted.
The researchers point to historical examples of scientists, artists and thinkers who produced major insights while spending time alone with their thoughts. In an era of constant connectivity, the ability to be alone with one’s mind without distraction may be increasingly rare yet crucial for creative exploration.
The research consisted of two complementary studies. In the first experiment, 81 adults sat in a quiet room for ten minutes with no access to phones or the internet. Without prompts, participants spoke their thoughts aloud in real time; the recordings were transcribed and analyzed. Creativity was measured using a divergent thinking test, a standard lab assessment that gauges one’s ability to generate original, varied ideas.
Participants who scored higher on divergent thinking produced speech that reflected associative transitions—phrases like “this reminds me of” or “speaking of which” signaled that one idea naturally led to another. These individuals also reported lower levels of boredom during the 10-minute rest and spoke more words overall, suggesting their minds were actively exploring rather than idling in frustration.
“While many people jump between seemingly unrelated thoughts, creative individuals showed a greater tendency to think associatively,” Raffaeli said. Andrews-Hanna added that this associative flow appears to keep creative people engaged even when there are no external tasks to occupy them.
To extend the findings to longer periods of unstructured time, the researchers analyzed data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a second study, more than 2,600 adults answered questions through the Mind Window app, developed by Andrews-Hanna and a graduate student. Participants who rated themselves as more creative reported experiencing less boredom and more mental engagement during pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions.
The authors emphasize practical implications: as workplaces, schools and homes push productivity and constant connectivity, carving out time for undirected thinking could support creativity and well-being. The research team continues to gather real-world data through the Mind Window app to better understand how everyday thought patterns vary across people and contexts.
“Understanding why different people think the way they do may point to interventions that improve mental health and foster creative potential,” Andrews-Hanna said. The study suggests that protecting idle time and reducing digital interruptions may help more people benefit from the naturally generative processes of associative thought.
About this creativity research news
Author: Niranjana Sahasranamam Rajalakshmi
Source: University of Arizona
Contact: Niranjana Sahasranamam Rajalakshmi – University of Arizona
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access. “Creative Minds at Rest: Creative Individuals are More Associative and Engaged with Their Idle Thoughts” by Quentin Raffaeli et al., published in Creativity Research Journal.
Abstract
Creative Minds at Rest: Creative Individuals are More Associative and Engaged with Their Idle Thoughts
Although substantial research has examined how creative people engage with the external world, much less is known about their inner mental life during unstructured moments such as awake rest. This manuscript tested whether creative individuals are more engaged with idle thoughts and whether their transitions between thoughts tend to be more associative.
Study 1 recorded real-time conscious experience from 81 adults who spoke their thoughts aloud across a 10-minute unconstrained rest period. Higher originality on a divergent thinking task correlated with lower self-reported boredom, greater total words spoken, more freely moving thoughts, and more loosely associative transitions during the rest period.
Study 2 used survey data from 2,612 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that higher self-rated creativity was associated with less perceived boredom during a time of extended unstructured free time.
Taken together, these results indicate that creative individuals tend to be more engaged and exploratory with their thoughts when not occupied by external tasks, with implications for resting-state neuroscience and societal attitudes that often devalue idle time.