Apathy is the enemy of creativity. As the summer season kicks in it is all too easy to find ourselves on autopilot. Whether boiling our brains on the Northern Line, or navigating the mental gymnastics of summer childcare logistics, summer can be a difficult time to maintain momentum. For creativity and curiosity to thrive we need rest and inspiration. Be it recommending a book, a breathing method or developing a craft, this summer BITE is asking leaders to share how they are making the space to nurture their creativity and find their pace.

Adam Foley, CEO, Bountiful Cow, discusses taking time in the summer to discover new perspectives.

When I was at school, I always loved September. That distinct sense of renewal that drifts in with the slightly cooler air, the new stationery and crisp new clothes - the chance to present yourself to your classmates, reinvented after a summer of discovery. I’ve never thought of the summer as a slump – more a chance to stop and explore.

Creativity is all about unexpected connections and finding new ways to look at old problems. I’ve always found that when you’re stuck on something, if you get away from your desk and your laptop, go for a walk, read something or listen to some strangers talking then the universe will provide. You’ll always come across something that you can use, just because you’re open to receiving new signals and drawing patterns in the world. The book that taught me that lesson most explicitly was John Higg’s brilliant book about the KLF - ‘Chaos, Magic and the Band That Burned A Million Quid’ – a summer read that changed my life, and my career.

There’s no better time than the summer to let your mind wander and indulge things you don’t normally have time for. Everything is interesting if you look hard enough. Another John Higgs book taught me that Milton Keynes was actually conceived and built as a giant temple to the sun. From Peter Hennessey’s book ‘The Secret State’, I discovered that the reason there was always a 20p piece in the Prime Minister’s Rolls Royce was in case they had to authorise a full nuclear launch from a phone-box. It was considered – rightly, I think – unseemly to do so while reversing the charges.

Most of all, I love reading and listening to things I don’t agree with. It’s far more energising than having your own opinion reinforced. My Dad has always been a big Daily Mail reader and growing up in that house, I became addicted to it, mainly to experience the feeling of horror and revulsion I felt at 99% of everything I read in it, but I kept enough of an open mind to recognise and respect the 1%. Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day.

I’ve taken that all through my life. I am compelled to read one-star reviews of things I love. I took a Spectator subscription while I worked at the Guardian. In that spirit, I have latterly become a grudging admirer of Piers Morgan’s Uncensored podcast (talk about a guilty pleasure). I don’t often agree with him, and he can grate as a person, but I find his, not always infallible, commitment to presenting both sides of an argument and challenging conventional wisdom refreshing. He will gladly admit when he is wrong or when he has changed his mind, which is all too rare these days.

The summer’s a great time to change your mind, to give your time to something you had passed over before or just to sit back and let the world wash over you, making sure your eyes and ears are open for clues that might uncover something new and exciting.