These are times of national malaise.  The stock market is down 20%, oil and gasoline prices have spiked, the nation is locked in two land wars in Asia, banks are failing, and real estate, the driver of the local economy, has tanked.  At a time when so much needs be done, it was surprising two of the worldÕs most prominent national leaders sat down to talk about how to obtain thoughtful rest.

         The microphone picked up a private conversation. According to the BBCÕs Alan Connor, Conservative Party Chairman David Cameron told Barack Obama, ÒThese guys just chalk your diary up.  We call it the dentistÕs waiting room.Ó

         Obama replied, ÒThe most important thing you need to do is to have big chunks of time during the day when all youÕre doing is thinking.Ó

         ItÕs a positive sign when two of the most overscheduled Western political leaders are trying to find time to think. But what if you are a working mother with children, or trying to work two jobs and take care of the family, cutting back on entertainment, rest, even sleep.  Where you can find time to think?
        
Creative Places to Think

         In his BBC report, Connor quoted Tony Buzan, the inventor of MindMaps, about the places where people came up with their best ideas. 

The answers:

         Showering.  In the bathtub.  Shaving.  Sitting on the can.  Walking in nature.  Lying in bed before sleep.  Looking at water.  Listening to classical music. Driving on the highway.

         Such creative spots should be within the means of even the most time stressed. Many a songwriter will tell you they think of lyrics listening to water during a shower or driving to visit a friend.  Sleep is a time of vast memory consolidation and learning. Walking in nature is used to treat depression in many countries.  Sunlight improves alertness and mood, as does physical activity, and the presence of nature, especially trees and water, appears to promote mental rest.

         How? Periods of reverie, daydreaming, imagining, and considerations past and future involve what researchers call the Òdefault mode,Ó a pattern of brain activity very different from intense attention.  The default mode is probably ÒonÓ in various kinds of rest, and involves mainly midline brain structures synchronizing together.  Imagine a band going across the top of your head from ear to ear and youÕll have an idea of where your brainÕs default mode works.
        
Creative Times

         Thinking may make us human, but just as some places are more conducive to rest and thought, so are certain times.

         Human body clocks provide different genetically determined periods for greater alertness and rest. Generally, the highest level of attentiveness to analytic detail happens in the late morning and early evening.  If you have lots of mental crunching to do, like memorizing foreign language verbs, those times may prove best for you.  The early evening is also the time when the body tends to be most accurate and powerful.

         Fortunately, creative thought can be accomplished at very different periods of the day.  Many writers work early in the morning, or at night.  Academics often say their best ideas come to them when commuting in cars or on trains in the morning, as their brains move through subjects consolidated during sleep.

         When I ask people when they feel they have their best, most useful thoughts, they often point to routine morning activities, like showering or commuting.   Some claim family and work issues obtain their best solutions in family dinners or a Òdrink after workÓ with colleagues, while some office workers find out-of-doors lunchtime walks good for producing new ideas.

         Different times can work for you. With luck, youÕll probably be able to point to times of day when youÕve produced your best ideas.

Solving All the WorldÕs Problems

         Things look pretty bad right now.  Lots of people are out of work or about to lose their jobs.  People wonder how theyÕre going to pay their mortgages, and lots of people canÕt imagine how theyÕll ever pay rising health care bills.  Many Medicare recipients are working in their 70s and 80s just to pay for health care.

         These times remind me of the early seventies. From 1969-73 the stock market went down not 20%, but 75%, as the nation was led by a president whose lies shook American democracy.  Thousands of Americans died in a land war in Asia that could not be won in battle.   New York City went bankrupt, the Federal government faced enormous debts brought by war and fiscal irresponsibility, and the world economy suffered its first oil price shock.

         Sound familiar?  Many pundits left us for dead in those days.  America came back.

         Maybe now we should take the time to think of new ways weÕll win the future back.     

Dr. Matthew Edlund practices sleep medicine and psychiatry in Sarasota.  His new book, Designed To Last, is available online. He can be reached at 365-4308 and via his Web site at doctoredlund.com.