Leave problems to the subconscious

The subconscious or the subconscious mind consists of the thoughts and feelings which you are not fully aware of. Sometimes unknown to you, all your experiences are stored in it. However, many of us use only our conscious mind to solve problems. For instance, we think deeply to find a solution to one of our pressing problems. When we do not find the desired solution, we go to bed or relax in an arm chair. Then you get up with the solution in a matter of minutes or hours. How did this happen? Can this be explained?

Psychologists have concentrated their attention on the use of the subconscious to solve problems. To their astonishment they have found that the subconscious is more effective than the conscious mind when it comes to problem solving.

How do you differentiate between the conscious and the subconscious mind? This can be explained in very simple terms. Think of a bus or train ride you are taking. Suppose you are travelling alone in the bus or the train with no one to talk to. On the other hand, think of a young undergraduate listening to a boring lecture at a university. On such occasions your subconscious is at work. The conscious mind is deactivated for the time being.

In schools, universities, and workplaces we use our conscious mind to the full to solve thousand and one problems. We hold numerous conferences, brainstorming sessions and interviews to find just one solution to a problem. On most occasions we fail to come up with a satisfactory solution.

However, by this time, the problem is deposited in the subconscious mind.

Even without your command, it will go into the problem and assess all the pros and cons. May be on the following day your subconscious mind will give you the desired solution.

Fehr, a noted French scientist once said that 75 per cent of important discoveries came to scientists when they were not actively engaged in research. Another psychologist says that if you have a problem, sleep over it for some time. Then you will get the solution.

We are taxing our conscious mind too much in the work places. As a result, we are unlikely to get the best solution. When we work very hard, we use only half of our conscious minds. We work long hours thinking endlessly and not getting enough relaxation. As a result, we constantly blunt our thinking.

It is only through relaxation that you can tap the subconscious effectively.

When you are busy doing something, the subconscious goes to sleep. Stop all your activities and relax. Then the subconscious will take over most of the functions. In other words, the subconscious is dormant in a workaholic. If you are working all the time, the subconscious will have no role to play. As Henry David Thoreau once said, "A really efficient labourer will be found not to crowd his day with work."

As one psychologist has put it, the process of thinking can be compared to cooking. We use direct heat to cook and sometimes we use microwave to cook fast. However, we know that food cooked fast does not have a good taste. In villages women take many hours to cook meals using firewood. And the food they cook is tastier that what you eat at a fast food outlet.

The subconscious mind has been compared to a fireless cooker. We allow all our problems to fill the cooking pots but apply no heat. Then the subconscious starts 'cooking' without any heat. This is quite different from cooking with our conscious mind where we burn quite a lot of mental energy.

If you do this constantly, you are sure to experience a mental breakdown.

Even the subconscious needs facts and figures to work on a problem. In the absence of such details, it cannot give you a satisfactory solution. Again it is like cooking. If there is nothing in the pots, what is there to be cooked? Therefore, when once the details are passed on to the subconscious, it will start a new process of cooking without expending much energy.

There are many ways of passing information to the subconscious. One method is to write down your problem on a sheet of paper. You are required to write down all the details of the problem without trying to find a solution. Then keep your notes aside and let the subconscious take over from there. Until you find a decision, relax or watch your favourite movie!

Another method is to have a brainstorming session. Listen to all the views of your colleagues but do not try to solve the problem using your conscious mind. Now that you have discussed all the aspects of the problem, leave it at that. The subconscious will consider all the aspects and come up with a solution. But this will take some time. So, be patient.

Frederick Grant Banting, a young Canadian surgeon, was wondering one day what to teach his students on the following day. He read many notes and books on the topic - Diabetes - and went to bed thoroughly exhausted.

Banting got up at 2 a.m. and scribbled something in his notebook and slept again. To his surprise, his subconscious mind had come to grips with one of the most baffling problems in medical science. What he scribbled in the wee hours finally led to the discovery of insulin.

The solution of the subconscious is dependable. According to Henry Ford, "Instinct is probably the essence of past experience and knowledge stored up for later use."

This gives us an indication that all those busy executives should relax at regular intervals. When the conscious mind relaxes, the subconscious takes over and your ideas begin to develop. Brilliant ideas come to you only when you are relaxed, not when you are exhausted.

Many writers do not get ideas when they try to use their conscious mind forcefully. Like inspiration, good ideas come unexpectedly from the subconscious. So, for creative energy and problem solving, depend on the subconscious.