- Humans are natural explorers. We are born with an intense desire to explore the world around us. We can become anesthetized to this but our brain never loses the ability to learn in this way (Medina, 2008).
- Companies that give staff time to explore where their mind asks them to have increased productivity and creativity (Medirata, 2007).
- Children who spend less time in structured activities and more time playing and exploring have better self-directed executive function.
Executive function is essential for flexibly switching between different activities rather than getting stuck on one thing, stopping yourself from yelling when angry, delaying gratification etc.
References
- Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Pear Press
- Medirata B, as told to Julie Bick. “The Google Way: Give Engineers Room.” New York Times(October 21, 2007).
- Barker, J. E., Semenov, A. D., Michaelson, L., Provan, L. S., Snyder, H. R., & Munakata, Y. (2014). Less-structured time in children’s daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning.Name: Frontiers in Psychology,5, 593.
