The Availability Heuristic or Bias explains this point on a conceptual level too (see the end of the article here for more)
Taken from these notes:
(*) What You End the Day with Principle - inspired by Josh Waitzkin:
Ex. given: the last 3 turns on bottom of ski slope are what you internalize for when you go up on the subsequent, long lift ride thereafter for another run
Same thing Waitskiz talks about with sitting on the most important question prior to sleeping - in order to let one's subconscious figure it out!
The following is also to be noted, to show additional emphasis to this principle, in Cal Newport's book Deep Work:
3 Explanations for the Value of Shutting Off:
Reason #1: Downtime Aids Insights
"Some decisions are better left to your unconscious mind to untangle." (Ap Dijksterhuis, Dutch psychologist)
(UTT) Unconscious Thought Theory - decisions with large amounts of info and multiple constraints exemplify that UTT works its magic because certain regions of your brain have more neural bandwidth available
Conscious mind = Have computer that has written programs w/ correct answers to limit problems
Unconscious mind = Google's vast data centers, where algorithms go through TB of info to give answers to difficult questions
"A shutdown habit, therefore, is not necessarily reducing the amount of time you're engaged in productive work, but is instead diversifying the type of work you deploy." (pg. 146)
Reason #2: Downtime Helps Recharge the Energy Needed to Work Deeply
(ART) Attention-Restoration Disorder - claims that spending time in nature can improve your ability to concentrate
Reason #3: The Work That Evening Downtime Replaces is Usually Not That Important
Deep work + Deliberate practice
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