This ‘ideas in the shower’ phenomenon is so well-known and experienced that you can even buy waterproof shower notepads! Those of us who have experienced it will know the sheer desperation of holding the idea in your mind’s eye while you scutter around naked, still soggy, trying to find something that’ll let you capture it before it disappears again.

In my experience, it’s not as I’m sitting at my desk or plonked in front of my phone that answers and ideas come to me – those times when I’m poised and ready (and hoping) for them. It’s when I’m doing anything but that. When I’m preparing a meal, exercising, having fun, and mostly when I’m taking a shower or bath. Indeed, it was while taking a shower that the idea for a mental health campaign which went viral worldwide came to me and many others that became tangible ‘things’ since. In recent times, an idea for some software and an app idea just came tumbling in as I was reading a book in the bath.

So, Why Do Our Ideas Emerge In The Shower?

According to research, when we’re relaxed, is when we’re at our most creative and in a state where we’re more likely to find solutions to our problems.

When we’re in the shower, the outside world is quite literally shut out. In this distraction-free environment, the white noise of the water, the warmth and the feeling of safety allow us to really relax and turn inward, bringing with it a hit of dopamine. In that relaxed and positive state, our brain gets the chance to rest, inviting our subconscious to wander and play. Fragments of information we already know become associated in a way we mightn’t consciously have connected them.

Do Ideas Come To You In The Shower? Here's Why Share on X

Erm, But I Don’t Have A Shower In My Home

In a 2019 study called When the Muses Strike: Creative Ideas of Physicists and Writers Routinely Occur During Mind Wandering, researchers asked writers and creatives to record what they were doing when flashes of inspiration struck. It seems it’s not just a shower thing, it’s also a mind-wandering thing. Any task which doesn’t pull too much on your executive functioning and allows space for your mind to wander will encourage and activate the same mode of thinking that comes when we’re in the shower.

This mode of thinking is called The Default Mode Network (DMN) and is thought to be the functional connectivity that happens when a creative brain is at rest. The DMN is a cluster of brain regions that are active when the mind is at rest and not focused on the outside world. It’s involved in self-referential thinking, imagination, and creative problem-solving. When we’re partaking in activities (like taking a shower, walking, doing the dishes, etc.) the DMN becomes more active, allowing our brain to tinker with possibilities.

The next time you’re staring at a screen, wishing and wanting for some bolts of brilliance but find them lacking, consider a different activity for a spell and see if that helps reignite your creativity.

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