<p>Put it more formally, how to let your mind subconsciously work on a research problem when you are not actively thinking about it, e.g., during sleep, dinner, walking, or shower? </p>

<p>Often I hear stories where a person gets stuck on a problem for months, only waking up and finding the problem works itself out in the shower. There are many great researchers echoing this ability , such as <a href="http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"creativity comes out of your subconscious" by Richard Hamming </a>. Also, many professors I know seem to master such skill, including my advisor. Having seen some occasional discussions like <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/15509/13081">here</a> at SE, I am wondering if this ability is innate or can be learned. If the latter, what are the techniques to help cultivate this ability?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-17T08:44:53.510Z
Marginally related (but interesting anyway): [Have you solved problems in your sleep?](http://mathoverflow.net/questions/164473/have-you-solved-problems-in-your-sleep) at MO.
Martin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-24T23:46:00.770Z
It occured to me to figure things out while several times I remember (and some I even find hilarious). But this happened within dreams mostly and after lot of dreams I don't feel much relaxed, though I enjoy them. Not going to sleep is more effective.
Tomáš Zato
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-19T21:18:31.107Z
For the sleep part, I think this question might be a duplicate of the earlier: [Can one incubate on a specific idea in one's sleep?](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/625/29) for the "dinner, walking, or shower" part, you should take a look at this question: [How is it that taking a break from a problem sometimes allows you to figure out the answer?](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/1/29)
Artem Kaznatcheev
<sleep><problem-solving>
How to work on a research problem while sleeping?
Xiaohui Liu
# How to work on a research problem while sleeping?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-16)

Put it more formally, how to let your mind subconsciously work on a research problem when you are not actively thinking about it, e.g., during sleep, dinner, walking, or shower?

Often I hear stories where a person gets stuck on a problem for months, only waking up and finding the problem works itself out in the shower. There are many great researchers echoing this ability , such as ["creativity comes out of your subconscious" by Richard Hamming](http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html) . Also, many professors I know seem to master such skill, including my advisor. Having seen some occasional discussions like [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/15509/13081) at SE, I am wondering if this ability is innate or can be learned. If the latter, what are the techniques to help cultivate this ability?

**Tags:** sleep, problem-solving

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Marginally related (but interesting anyway): [Have you solved problems in your sleep?](http://mathoverflow.net/questions/164473/have-you-solved-problems-in-your-sleep) at MO.  
> **username_2**: It occured to me to figure things out while several times I remember (and some I even find hilarious). But this happened within dreams mostly and after lot of dreams I don't feel much relaxed, though I enjoy them. Not going to sleep is more effective.  
> **username_3**: For the sleep part, I think this question might be a duplicate of the earlier: [Can one incubate on a specific idea in one's sleep?](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/625/29) for the "dinner, walking, or shower" part, you should take a look at this question: [How is it that taking a break from a problem sometimes allows you to figure out the answer?](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/1/29)  

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## 0 answers

