Why You Come Up With Your Best Ideas When You're Mentally Exhausted

Updated
Businessman sleeping on laptop at desk in office
Getty

By Shana Lebowitz

At the end of a harrowing workday, you may feel like you're too drained to do anything besides stare at the television.

But you might consider whipping out a pen and pad instead. New research suggests that people generate the most creative ideas when they're mentally exhausted.

The study was led by Rémi Radel, Ph.D., at the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France. Researchers asked a group of undergrads to play a computer game that involved finding the direction of an arrow by ignoring the direction of the arrows around it. Some students played a version of the game in which all arrows pointed in the same direction; others played a version in which the arrows pointed in opposite directions.

Advertisement