CREATIVITY TIP: LET THERE BE NOISE

By: Donald M. Rattner

According to research data from 2012, people reach peak creative performance under moderately noisy conditions—70 decibels, to be precise. This is roughly equivalent to the chatter in your local coffee shop or restaurant on a fairly busy day. As to why this is the case, the scientists who authored the study have a theory:

“We theorize that a moderate (vs. low) level of ambient noise is likely to induce processing disfluency or processing difficulty, which activates abstract cognition and consequently enhances creative performance. A high level of noise, however, reduces the extent of information processing, thus impairing creativity.”

Translation: silence isn’t as golden as it sounds. Absolute noiselessness tends to focus our attention, which is helpful for tasks that entail accuracy, fine detail, and linear reasoning, such as balancing our checkbook or fixing a Swiss watch. It’s less supportive of the broad, big-picture, abstract mind-wandering that leads to fresh perspectives.

On the other hand, excessive noise overwhelms our sensory apparatus and hinders our ability to properly process information at all. In between lies the sweet spot—noise not so loud that we can’t hear ourselves think, and not so quiet that we can’t help but hear ourselves think.