How to Foster Creative Insight When You Have No Time

Who wouldn’t want to be an “insight machine?” One where you can just will your way to solving problems, from the daily parenting ones to the larger business ones?

But a fact and a misconception might get in your way.

Fact: You’re likely strapped for time.

Misconception: You feel as if creativity is a luxury reserved for people with empty calendars and hours to burn.

Here’s the truth: Creative intelligence isn’t just the province of poets and painters. Creative intelligence is the everyday ability to generate, ideate, and act on novel and useful solutions to the problems you care about.

Whether you're facing an issue with how your team operates, rethinking your approach to leadership, or even grappling with personal challenges like family communication, tapping into your creative intelligence is vital. Yet, with busy schedules, how do you cultivate innovation when you barely have time to think?

Surprisingly, creativity doesn’t always require long, uninterrupted blocks of time. It thrives in the margins, in small moments, and even in activities that seem counterproductive. Based on my applied research and experience as a consultant, and corroborated by recent studies, here are three novel ways to foster creative insight when time is scarce.

1. Find Time to Play

It may sound counterintuitive, but engaging in brief, playful activities can lead to serious breakthroughs. Studies suggest that play at work boosts creative behavior and problem-solving abilities. A 2023 study conducted by Fei Ran Yang and colleagues found that fun at work was positively related to employees’ creative output. The study, conducted in Chinese workplaces, highlighted how workplace fun, particularly when supported by managerial encouragement and trust, not only increased creativity but also prevented negative behaviors.

In fact, introducing play into the workday doesn’t just lift the mood—it actively enhances cognitive flexibility, allowing employees to make novel connections and generate new ideas. Laughter and light-hearted activities—whether that's a quick team game, a playful brainstorming session, or just a lighter tone in meetings—have been shown to spark creativity by encouraging divergent thinking, which is essential for innovation.

A few years ago, an executive client complained that his team's meetings had become near-lifeless. We dug into some core issues about specific team dynamics. Then we introduced a few Wonder@Work Interventions—evidence-based practices that invite more openness, curiosity, and connection. The first one we tried out was to integrate five-minute doodle jams into their meetings. In a doodle jam, everyone is invited to doodle sometimes with a prompt. Despite initial resistance and eye-rolling, most team members were surprised by how quickly their moods elevated and their mindsets opened just by doodling. The seemingly random playfulness brought laughs and lightness that, in turn, led to more open, dynamic, and creative exchanges.

Play invites genuine connection—a relational facet of wonder. For leaders and managers, this might mean reimagining the workplace environment to encourage moments of fun, even in remote settings. Consider establishing rituals that foster playfulness, such as “joke-of-the-day” rounds or five-minute doodle breaks. When fun is baked into the culture, employees are more likely to experiment, ideate, and collaborate in innovative ways.

2. Take Time to Daydream

Think back to the last time you had a “eureka” moment—it probably didn’t happen when you were grinding away at a task. More likely, the idea came to you while you were zoning out in the shower, going for a walk, or doing something relatively “mindless.” This phenomenon isn’t a fluke. Studies show that creative insights often arise when we allow ourselves to daydream.

Roger Beaty and colleagues conducted brain scans that revealed both the executive function network (responsible for focused problem-solving) and the default mode network (engaged during mind-wandering) play roles in creative thinking. Their 2021 study, published in Cerebral Cortex, found that individuals who experienced more “functional realignment” between these networks were better at divergent thinking—essentially, coming up with a variety of solutions to a single problem.

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The takeaway? Creativity and wonder need space to breathe. By carving out small moments to let your mind wander—whether on a lunch break, during a commute, or even while waiting in line—you can spark your creative potential. Daydreaming allows the brain to sift through information, make novel associations, and reach insights you may not have consciously considered.

Being hyper-focused can actually be detrimental to innovative thinking. So, you can bake into your workflow brief periods of deliberate "unfocus" and daydreaming, as psychologist Srini Pillay and author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang suggest. Rest assured that with a little practice, deliberate daydreaming can be an art for you to practice, five to ten minutes at a time.

But here’s a crucial warning: Don’t daydream with your device. Scrolling mindlessly on a screen actually short-circuits this effect. So, when you take a daydream break, leave your device behind.

3. Do Something With Your Hands

Ever notice how ideas tend to pop into your head when you're doing something mundane, like washing dishes or gardening? I think of this phenomenon as the “Shower Effect,” where a relaxed, repetitive task frees the mind to think more creatively. Engaging in a tactile activity, especially one unrelated to your main work, can create the mental space necessary for breakthroughs.

Research has shown that doing something creative with your hands, such as drawing, knitting, or working on a puzzle, not only boosts well-being but also enhances cognitive flexibility.

When your hands are busy, your mind can enter a state of relaxed focus, which allows subconscious ideas to bubble up to the surface. A 2019 study in the American Journal of Public Health found that art-making, even for non-artists, significantly improves mental health and cognitive functioning, which in turn boosts creative problem-solving.

If you’re short on time, find small moments throughout the day to engage in a hands-on activity. Keep a sketchbook at your desk, doodle during meetings, or take a five-minute break to do something tactile. While you might not immediately connect this to creative work, the mental reset can lead to surprising insights when you return to the task at hand.

Closing Words: Creativity as a Lifeline in the Age of AI

In an era where artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize work and problem-solving, your own creative intelligence remains a vital asset. It’s not something to cultivate only when you have spare time—it’s a skill that can be sharpened in the margins of your day. Whether through play, daydreaming, or tactile tasks, you can tap into your creative potential, even when you feel time-starved.

In fact, prioritizing these small but meaningful moments of creativity can be the key to both personal fulfillment and professional success. As psychologist Jonathan Schooler notes, creativity is “at the core of innovation” and a cornerstone of human advancement. So the next time you feel overwhelmed or uninspired, remember: You don’t need hours of quiet time to innovate. Sometimes, all it takes is a little fun, a little space, and a little time to let your hands lead your mind.

Wonder awaits.