Ideation happens when your mind is unfocused, playing, daydreaming or idle. Research
•• by University of California, Santa Barbara psychology professor Jonathan Schooler and his colleagues, for example, find that people are more creative after they have been daydreaming or letting their minds wonder.
Many of us go entire days without putting our brains on idle, and others never do it at all. Between work and homelife we’re constantly busy and engaged with activities that require focus. Downtime is often engaging in our phones, Youtube, Facebook e.t.c. - which is NOT idle thinking.
We need to find time to give our brains a pause. If our minds are constantly processing information, we never get a chance to let our our imagination develop. If we don’t allow for this we will build societies and social structures devoid of critical and creative thinking. These both require imagination.