Visionaries of every sort credit daydreams for creating conditions ripe for moments of insight to blossom. Einstein, at the age of 16, pictured himself in a daydream traveling alongside a light beam, a bit of fanciful imagery that he later credited as the seed of his theory of relativity.
Mozart daydreamed about music as he walked and rode through the countryside imagining sounds that became the basis of famed compositions. Walt Disney came up with the idea for a theme park while idly watching his daughters ride by on a merry-go-round.
“Daydreams at Work” author Amy Fries, who has a home in Dewey Beach, has interviewed dozens of people to discover how daydreams have led them to start life-changing nonprofits, create innovative products and million-dollar businesses, and visualize their way to the summit of Mount Everest, to name just a few.
Though many people have sensed the connection between daydreaming and creativity, recent scientific studies are combining with an abundance of anecdotal evidence to establish that when daydreaming, people are literally in their most creative state of mind, tapping into and connecting the most complex regions of the brain.
The beauty of daydreaming is that it’s a process available to everyone. Yet many people know relatively little about it. In a production-oriented, to-do-list world, people practically worship the focused, directed mind. They laud the pursuit of the quiet mind after wearing it out with the stress of incessant activity and striving. Yet they disparage the third state of mind, the most creative, imaginative, problem-solving, energizing and entertaining mental state - the daydreaming mind.
Daydreams are not a guilty pleasure or mere wishful thinking; they are a source for ideas, energy and motivation.
“Daydreams at Work” reveals the valuable and productive role daydreams play in life and work. The book shows people how to juggle multiple goals, and plan and envision future actions.
The book examines how the Einsteins and Edisons of the past found inspiration in their daydreams, why Google, Gore & Associates (Gore-Tex) and 3M give their employees the time and space to daydream and how that has made them some of the most innovative companies in the world.
The book provides ideas for tapping into daydreams through stories and interviews with executives, entrepreneurs, inventors, psychologists, artists, writers, scientists and athletes, including legendary mountain climber Ed Viesturs. “Daydreams at Work” includes questionnaires and discussion guides to help readers determine their own daydreaming style and offers thought-provoking exercises that will have them using their daydreams in new and creative ways.
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