At first sight it may seem that the idea of deliberately inserting into a task or activity a period of time in which nothing appears to be happening runs completely against the principles and techniques of better time creation. How does the concept of waiting time, of a period in which information is assimilated, is allowed to ‘incubate’ for a while, fit into a more effective approach? Is it not simply a waste of time, a device for procrastination? Part of the answer to questions like these is that, in the term ‘adequate incubation periods’, the emphasis is placed on the word ‘adequate’. In other words, you only take the ‘time out’ that is necessary. If you don’t provide for such periods, you do in fact waste time in less than fully productive effort. It is one of the key features that distinguish headless chickens from laidback bears. Headless chickens are so ineffective precisely because they cannot be still for a moment.

The periods are needed because we often take some time to form sound judgments and conclusions. Indeed, there is evidence that better conclusions are reached if adequate incubation periods are allowed. They help to avoid the stress that an over-emphasis on speed can bring. They give us time to think, to mull things over, to reflect. It is a false economy to neglect incubation periods. There will also always be occasions when the mind, like a farmer’s field, has to lie fallow and be given the chance to recover for the next task. Incubation or rest periods can take several forms and all, properly used, can be of assistance in the practice of better time creation whether by managers, writers, readers, travellers or anyone else for whom speed of response is an important consideration.

The principal kind of incubation with which we shall be concerned here is the one that occurs between input and output, between preparation or planning and execution, between identifying or specifying a problem and solving it, or when the actual process of creative thinking is being carried out. It is the time during which information continues to be worked on by the brain at a level other than the conscious level. It requires no effort. All it requires is a willingness simply to put adequate incubation periods into activities and to allow them to work their particular ‘magic’.

The kinds of activities in which incubation periods can play an instrumental part include problem solving, creative thinking, reading, writing, decision and judgment making, managing, forming opinions, training, learning and work planning. In later chapters we shall see specifically how some of them work, but some examples of their usefulness will not go amiss at this point.

Any rest or relaxation period in an activity can become an incubation period if, during it, what has happened previously is being considered by the brain at a level beyond the conscious and this results in a modified and improved performance when activity resumes. Any learning process needs times when, because of the effects of the learning curve, what has been learned can be mulled over (’the learning curve’ in this context is a term used to refer to the fact that experience needs to be built up gradually and often cannot be forced).

• Other examples of incubation periods occur in situations like being able to solve a problem in a morning when it appeared insoluble the night before.
• They occur after a brainstorming session before evaluating responses obtained.
• They occur between writing a report and revising it.
• They occur between collecting information and making a decision on what to do about it.

Typically, those who are skilled in providing adequate incubation periods for themselves will make sure that they acquire all the relevant information and set aside an amount of time to give incubation a chance to occur. They will then turn their attention to some other task for a while. This might well be a task which can be completed without too much effort and without taking up too much time, bearing in mind that a desirable minimum incubation period should include an overnight wait. After this, the activity will be resumed and there is a greatly increased likelihood of confident, positive, decisive action being possible.

The benefits of such an approach are many. The main ones would appear to be that adequate incubation periods:

• boost confidence
• relax an individual
• give smoother performance of skills
• avoid errors through over-hasty judgments
• increase reliability
• avoid wasteful repetition.

This last is very important to effective time creation.

If you wish to improve your own use of these periods, you can try some or all of the following exercises:

• 1.Read a feature article in a newspaper. Put it to one side. Write down the main points. Then read a similar article, but this time when you put it to one side wait for half an hour before you write down the main points. The following day, read each article again and see if you still agree with your assessment of the salient points each is making. You should find that the article with the half-hour incubation period is the one which produced the better results.
• 2.Select problems from a mathematics textbook or from a book which contains puzzles that provide a certain amount of intellectual challenge. One evening, attempt to solve some problems. When you encounter a problem you cannot solve, keep working at it until you can or until you have to give up. Next evening, do the same, but this time when you come to the apparently insoluble problem, make sure that you have firmly registered in your mind all the information about the problem, then go to bed. Next morning, return to the problem and see if a solution presents itself. You may have to carry out this whole experiment two or three times before you are able to form a reliable judgment, but you should find that an overnight incubation period makes it noticeably more likely that you will be able to solve the problem. Students may use homework problems for this exercise.
• 3.Write a letter or a report and then try to edit and polish it on the same day. Then write something, but leave it at least 24 hours before editing and polishing. You should find that the second approach produces much better results. One reason for this is the incubation period, but another is that the following day you are not so personally committed to the writing and can thus be more objective and critical in your approach to it and edit it more effectively.
• 4.Write a letter of complaint about something that has happened to you recently and which you feel pretty steamed up about. Put the letter to one side overnight. Do you still send it as you wrote it? Or do you tone it down a little and make it more reasoned and less abusive? The chances are you will tone it down. The incubation period has saved you from possible embarrassment by overstating your case or expecting abusiveness to work.

• 5.Plan an activity (for example, a journey or making a very important telephone call) and carry it out on the same day. Then do the same, but carry out the activity on the following day. Again, you should find that you get better results with fewer errors.

Where a 24 hour delay is unavailable or impracticable for a variety of reasons, try the above activities with at least a break between input and output in which a different activity is undertaken. Although the results this time may not be quite so good, you should still find that you gain some benefit from the incubation period. However, for these periods to be really useful, it is important to ensure that they are of an adequate duration. Clearly, the more you practise using them, the more accurately you will be able to see what ‘adequate’ means for you. Some people will need longer periods than others and all will need longer periods on some occasions. Experience in using them will enable you to become progressively better at judging the right amount of time consistent with better time creation and being a more laidback bear.