Because of my business success, I'm privileged to receive frequent requests for advice. One of my recommendations - that people engage in some pure "dumb-time" every day - often draws incredulous stares from audiences. Fortunately, Scientific American recently published an article that explains how unstructured playtime improves our creativity and reduces stress.

While I've always believed that play benefits adults and children, The Serious Need for Play provides important news for hovering "helicopter" parents who over-schedule their children for fear of educational competition: "Relieving stress and building social skills may seem to be obvious benefits of play. But research hints at a third, more counterintuitive area of influence: play actually appears to make kids smarter." The benefits come from unstructured play, according to Scientific American:

Certainly games with rules are fun and sources of learning experiences-they may foster better social skills and group cohesion, for instance, says Anthony D. Pellegrini, an educational psychologist at the University of Minnesota. But, Pellegrini explains, "games have a priori rules-set up in advance and followed. Play, on the other hand, does not have a priori rules, so it affords more creative responses."

This creative aspect is key because it challenges the developing brain more than following predetermined rules does. In free play, kids use their imagination and try out new activities and roles.

Unstructured, imaginative play prepares children to respond creatively to the unpredictable nature of daily life. And by now you should know that life doesn't get any more predictable as we get older. Do we play enough as adults to exercise our creativity?

David Allen expresses this differently, but he definitely gets it. The author of three books about productivity, Allen is one of the most sought-after business coaches in the world. His method appears to be about tasks - his first book is called Getting Things Done - so people sometimes miss the more important element: good organization frees our mind to play. It clears stressful distractions and allows our creativity to function naturally.

I advise people to enjoy some pure dumb time every day, but it's not pure if your mind is overwhelmed by unfinished business. Allen shows you a system for purifying your free time, because he believes that "our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax."

In Two Billion Dollars in Nickels, I mentioned that because of dyslexia, my brain is both a factory and a warehouse. I don't have the ability to store information in books and lists, but I do use a system of voicemail reminders and I rely on others to help manage my tasks. In my metaphor, Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology urges people to develop the brain as a factory and use external systems (note cards, smartphones, etc.) for their warehouse. Adopters of Allen's methods rave about both their increased productivity and their decreased stress.

What I call "dumb time" and others call "play" or "relaxation" is freedom from stressful, unfulfilled commitments that clog your mental pipes. As I've said before, you are more likely to hatch a new idea while running than while running a meeting. Creativity is a natural human attribute exercised through play. Systems like David Allen's GTD free us to play productively.