Mental energy is our ability to focus on a task, undistracted for a period of time. It is our willpower. And it functions like a muscle. For our minds to best direct mental energy, it needs to be driven hard for short bursts and then given sufficient time to recover.

Imagine a sprinter on a track. The sprinter gives it his all for a short period of time then takes an equal or often longer, period of time to recover. When the sprinter is ready for their next performance the results are directly tied to how well sprinter was able to recover.

Our best mental performance comes when we are able to fully engage in a task for a short period of time, then take a break that allows our brains time to recover.

Now consider that our brains make up just two percent of our bodies weight, yet consume an astounding twenty-five percent of our calories. This is critical to understand because it underlines our immense needs for physical energy. If the physical energy needs are not being met we have the additional deficient in our mental energy.

Additionally, physical movement directly stimulates our mental energy. In “A Few Good Men” Tom Cruises’ character was in trying to solve a problem and said he needed his bat. He said he thought better with it. After taking a few swings and walking around the answer came to him.

Many of us get our best ideas taking a walk or in the shower when we are moving around.  This is because the brain is fed from bottom to top and back to front. About 800,000 signals per second enter our sensory cortex, they are consolidated and only about 200,000 are forwarded to the logical brain for consideration.

So once we have adequate physical energy and mental rest what happens when we sit down to concentrate on a task? This is where it gets fascinating. There are five stages to the creative process and each resides in a different portion of our brain. Therefore one portion of the brain is able to perform a mental sprint then, like a relay race, hand off the material to the next portion of the brain so a fresh region can perform its own sprint attempting to give each portion of the brain time to recover.

The first stage of the creative process is ‘insight’. Insight occurs on the left side of the brain and decides the purpose and the direction of the task.

The second stage of the process is ‘saturation’. Saturation also takes place on the left side of the brain and gathers the information relevant to the task.

The third stage of the process is ‘incubation’. Incubation occurs on the right side of the brain and inspires solutions.

The forth stage of the process is ‘illumination’. Illumination occurs on the right side of the brain and considers the potential solutions.

The fifth stage of the process is ‘verification’. Verification occurs on the right side of the brain and validates the solution.

When we fail to stimulate the brain in new and challenging ways our creativity and problem solving atrophy just like an unused muscle. Brain space and structure is just too valuable to waste. If a function is not being utilized it will be repurposed.

We get the most out of our mental energy, or willpower, when we direct our focus on a single task undisturbed for a period of time. Then allow sufficient recovery time before the next sprint.

In the New York Times, Daniel Goleman stated the following;

“New research is leading to the conclusion that these instances of ….