Hello friend, this is an episode of Note to Self, but from when we used to be called New Text City.

Same good content, just the old name. Enjoy.

From WNYC, this is New Text City, where digital gets personal.

I'm a new summer Odie. It's day five.

Your second to last challenge for the board and brilliant project.

And as we come towards the end, maybe you've loosened your grip on your phone.

Maybe we even thought through a problem or just had some extra time to think.

The grand finale is almost here. An assignment from the artist Nina Cachadorian.

You're going to get that tomorrow.

Today's challenge is less about your phone and more about getting you in a creative mindset.

We want you to do something that will activate your brain's default mode.

Some scientists also call it the imagination network.

So just a reminder from our episode a couple weeks back,

this is the part of your brain that's hard at work when your body is at rest.

Or it's doing something that doesn't take much thought, like sitting on a bench, folding laundry.

Your mind begins to wander. And that's when it comes up with its most novel ideas.

Or just novels in general.

Gary Steingart is the author of Super Sad True Love Story.

His latest book is a memoir called Little Failures.

And he knows firsthand how important it is to tap that imagination network.

You need the board mode and you also need to be what's called the great noticeer.

You need to notice everything around you.

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