Sometimes, I like to pretend Im Rory Gilmore.
First of all, if you hate on Rory for whatever reason, just know I havent made my waythrough every season of yet, so with my current knowledge, I see no reason to hate her (other than her sort-of-bad taste in men, but hey, shes young; give the girl a break).
As far as Im concerned, shes a beautiful, relatable girl with whom Ive always shared similarly uncommon interests, like reading and writing.
Plus, I cant help but admire her (and, of course, her mothers) quick wit.
Ive always found navigating nearly any difficult situation under Rorys guisemade the experience significantly less stressful.
But, at the same time, I always worried it might be unhealthy for me to channel someone elses personality so often.
Well, it turns out, Ive actually been onto something.
A recent column in highlighted the importance of unfocusing, and more specifically, the results of a study demonstrating something called the stereotype effect.
In the study, education psychologists Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar divided their participants into three different groups: One group was told to imagine themselves as eccentric poets, another group was told to think of themselves as rigid librarians, and the third set of subjects werent given any such directions(making them the control group).
Then, each person was presented with several different bland objects, such as a carrot, a fork, and a pair of pants. The researchers asked the subjects to think of as many different ways to use each object as they could.
The eccentric poets came up with the mostideas, while the rigid librarians struggled the most in coming up with different uses for each object.
Whats particularly striking about these results is that they portray creativity not as a trait that you either have or dont have, but as something that can be shaped depending on the context.
No one is necessarily a creative person; creativity can really be harnessed by anybody, according to these results.
Psychiatrist Srini Pillay calls this exercise of pretending to be someone else psychological halloweenism, which surprisingly refer to a psychological disorder in which you cant stop dressing up in Halloween costumes (but wouldnt that be fascinating?!).
Pillay describes it as a kind of conscious unfocus, in which were stimulating a part of the brain thats only active when youre not actually focused on a certain thought or task.
By allowing that sort of underused part of the brain to do its thing, we manage to think and behave more creatively than we normally would.
Pillay even recommendsthat employers allow their workers to occasionally indulge in some psychological halloweenism, as he believes it could help them feel more engaged in their day-to-day responsibilities.
So, the next time youre feeling particularly sluggishat work, maybe try channeling someone who gets sh*t done, like Rory Gilmore, or even a real-life #girlboss, like Sophia Amoruso.
Happy daydreaming!
Read more: http://elitedaily.com/wellness/science-says-pretend-youre-someone-else/1962077/
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