Creating “In the Zone”

Heather Goldsmith, at As I Write It - A Creative Journal, shared an Artistic Shift experience she once had - where the brain becomes so focused on the task at hand that time passes without awareness.

Getting into a zone like that is wonderful. I've experienced it with writing and drawing, as well as highly analytical efforts. It seems to be a matter of focus driven by extreme interest in the present task.

I recently read of a study where two groups of volunteers were told to listen to a three-minute tape which was a random listing of names. They were challenged to remember the names of eight people from the tape who went to a party.

Only one group was also told to doodle while they listened (though not why). The doodlers did significantly better. The theory is that the doodling occupied the artistic right brain so that it wouldn't distract and interrupt the logical left brain.

Does your crafting ever take you into a zone? When I get into beading or digital scrapbooking, I frequently come close. My body usually gives out before my concentration. I look at the clock and four or even eight hours have passed.