This is really interesting! It makes me curious about the link between future-focused thinking and creativity. Everyone has an imagination, and everyone has the ability to use it to envision future events, so I wonder what makes it easier or more difficult to engage their imagination in other kinds of tasks?
You’re right to connect the two. Imagining the future and being creative both rely on the same underlying ability to generate possibilities. The difference is that future-focused thinking already gives the mind a starting point: there is a date, a context or an anticipated event, so the imagination only has to fill in the gaps.
Creative work is harder because it asks the mind to create the starting point itself. Some people find it easier to work with possibility when something is already loosely defined (me, for example!), while open-ended tasks require a different kind of cognitive effort.
It’s a fascinating distinction & creativity is one of my favourite cognitive constructs ! Maybe I should write about it ...
This explains why I love planning ahead…especially holidays…and find myself feeling excited about the possibilities. I think it’s why last minute holiday deals don’t appeal to me…they seem to deprive us of the delicious ‘looking forward to’ element of travelling somewhere new!
What you describe makes a lot of sense. When we plan ahead, the mind has time to imagine what might be waiting for us, and that anticipation becomes part of the pleasure. Last minute deals skip that earlier phase entirely, so the whole experience feels different before it even begins :)
This is really interesting! It makes me curious about the link between future-focused thinking and creativity. Everyone has an imagination, and everyone has the ability to use it to envision future events, so I wonder what makes it easier or more difficult to engage their imagination in other kinds of tasks?
Thank you, Joshua :)
You’re right to connect the two. Imagining the future and being creative both rely on the same underlying ability to generate possibilities. The difference is that future-focused thinking already gives the mind a starting point: there is a date, a context or an anticipated event, so the imagination only has to fill in the gaps.
Creative work is harder because it asks the mind to create the starting point itself. Some people find it easier to work with possibility when something is already loosely defined (me, for example!), while open-ended tasks require a different kind of cognitive effort.
It’s a fascinating distinction & creativity is one of my favourite cognitive constructs ! Maybe I should write about it ...
Take Care !
This explains why I love planning ahead…especially holidays…and find myself feeling excited about the possibilities. I think it’s why last minute holiday deals don’t appeal to me…they seem to deprive us of the delicious ‘looking forward to’ element of travelling somewhere new!
Thank you, Esther.
What you describe makes a lot of sense. When we plan ahead, the mind has time to imagine what might be waiting for us, and that anticipation becomes part of the pleasure. Last minute deals skip that earlier phase entirely, so the whole experience feels different before it even begins :)
I have a 2nd option in the present which is daydreaming 😅
I shall write about daydreaming sooner than later Ann :)