Why We Struggle to Carve Out Time for Wonder

Imagine you and a colleague are attempting to solve a stressful problem at work when lunchtime rolls around. You choose to eat at your desk because you feel anxious about the issue and pressured to find a solution. Your colleague, however, decides to leave for a while.

Later, your colleague excitedly shares how they spent their lunch hour hiking a nearby nature trail, where they stumbled upon a beautiful clearing, then sat in the grass to enjoy a sandwich and watch the wind create ripples across a pond.

What a waste of time! you might say to yourself, frustrated with your colleague for their laziness and lack of work ethic. (If you were in 17th-century Scotland, you might even accuse them of having an illness called “the wonders.”)

But your hypothetical colleague’s behavior may be more closely aligned with fundamental human nature than the hyper-competitive workaholism often praised and reinforced by society.

By prioritizing experiences of wonder and shifting perspectives, your colleague not only better manages their responses to stressful situations but may also have an easier time coming up with innovative solutions to the problem you spent your lunch hour agonizing about.

In fact, according to a recent study published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, shifts in perspective support better emotional regulation, which, in turn, helps foster creativity among so-called conventional thinkers.

But if shifting perspective is so essential for our emotional well-being and creativity, why don’t we carve out more time for experiences of wonder? And how can we reclaim this vital part of our human nature?

Why We’re Biased Against Wonder and How This Impacts Creativity

As philosopher René Descartes wrote in his last book on emotions, “Wonder is the first of all passions.” Curiosity and wonder fuel our thoughts from an early age, and when we are young, almost everything is novel. But, while there are still practically unlimited opportunities for experiencing wonder in adulthood, our culture prioritizes productivity above much else. And to the naked eye, wonder looks a lot like inaction.

This could be why, according to a report from the International Labour Organization, Americans work hundreds of hours more per year than European countries and, according to a 2022 survey, take 60 percent fewer vacation days. And while European workers are given considerably more vacation time than American workers, we don’t even use all of our meager allotted PTO (and feel guilty when we do take time off).

Although countless studies show time off to rest and recharge is vital to our mental and physical well-being, we see it as “unproductive.”

Many of us have become so enmeshed in our work that spending a lunch hour strolling through the woods or daydreaming in a field sounds ludicrous, but skipping that free hour to work more feels completely normal.

Unfortunately, giving ourselves fewer opportunities to experience wonder and shift our perspective means many of us are also habitually stressed, anxious, and stuck in a pattern of fret and regret (something I call “downer patterns”), which keeps us from tapping into our creativity. Fortunately, we can train ourselves to shift these patterns.

How to Shift Your Perspective So You Can Unleash Your Creativity

According to the study I mentioned earlier, the act of considering new approaches and perspectives may be the key to unlocking creativity by improving cognitive flexibility.

In the study, researchers ranked participants on their openness to new experiences and ideas, then either showed them an anger-inducing film scene or asked them to write about an incident that made them angry. Participants were then instructed to suppress their emotions, distract themselves by thinking about something else, or use a strategy called emotional appraisal — which required them to reframe the issue by viewing it from another perspective. Afterward, they were given an exercise to assess their creativity.

Those who initially ranked low on openness to new ideas (labeled by researchers as “conventional thinkers”) displayed the most creativity after engaging in emotional reappraisal when compared to conventional thinkers who used suppression or distraction. (Interestingly, emotional reappraisal had little-to-no effect on those who ranked higher on the openness scale; researchers believe this is because creative thinkers already practice emotional reappraisal.)

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The D.O.S.E. Method

Of course, regardless of whether you identify as more or less open to new ideas and experiences, everyone can perhaps benefit from shifting their perspective. In my experience, this not only helps people access their inner creativity but also helps them live richer and more meaningful lives.

In my writing and workshops, I use a framework I call D.O.S.E. to help people disrupt their downer patterns:

• D: Detecting Your Default Pattern
  Observe when you’re dropping into a pattern of fret and regret or unwanted distraction. Consider writing down what you notice about the situation.
• O: Open Up, Pause, and Feel It
  Notice how this default pattern feels in your body. Perhaps your temples ache, your brows furrow, or your neck and shoulders tense. Be careful not to suppress or bypass these reactions — just acknowledge them.
• S: Seek Out Wonder
  Get a different perspective on the pattern and consider whether you could do something to shift that energy. A problem that feels as large as a whale when you’re facing your computer screen may feel more like a minnow when you step out into nature, view a moving piece of art, or watch a performance.
• E: Extend the Wonder
  Extending wonder might mean pausing to write down what happened when you shifted your downer pattern so you can reflect on your notes later. You could also write a poem or article about the experience, take a photo, or create another physical reminder of the meaningful moment. I also encourage you to share the experience with someone.

For example, suppose you sought wonder by stepping into your backyard to watch the sunset. Perhaps witnessing the vibrant colors painted across the horizon made your heart swell with gratitude for the earth’s beauty and reminded you that everything is temporary. Recounting this experience with someone else can help amplify your experience of wonder and may even help shift their perspective too.

Don’t skip this step — this is where you’ll begin to form new neural pathways and change your default behaviors.

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t judge or feel shame for your downer patterns because we all have them. But leveraging a tool like D.O.S.E. can help you identify and disrupt those patterns, so you can claim more moments of wonder — no matter where you are. And by shifting your perspective in these moments of stress, you can begin tapping into your own font of creativity.