We're sure this has happened to you! Amidst the steam from the hot water, while putting away the soap and getting ready to put shampoo on the scalp, you suddenly think of an amazing solution to an everyday problem. It's a fact: the best ideas arrive in the shower. Do you know why this happens?
Science is already studying this phenomenon and even has a name for it: the shower effect. That's when our mind works best on its thought flows, giving clarity to creativity to let it flow.
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Ideas only come in the bath?
No. A 2019 study of 98 writers and 87 physicists, showed that 20% of your most creative thoughts come when you are doing something else. Yes, these people had brilliant ideas while taking a shower, but also while washing dishes, exercising, drinking coffee or smoking.
Scientists have come to the conclusion that the shower effect is a product of the mind-wandering that occurs when your thoughts go anywhere but the task at hand.
You know how they say the best way to solve a problem is to take two steps back? That's more or less it. When you don't think about the problem, your mind is working with it in the "background", until it formulates something interesting enough to bother you in the "foreground".
Wandering is not just a waste of time
For a long time, it was thought that rambling was just a fancy term for "traveling in mayonnaise". At times, the activity can be harmful, but not quite. It can be useful and bring insights that might not otherwise appear. Want to see? A study of more than 1,100 respondents showed that moments of intense insight happen 30% of the time while rambling in the shower but also in traffic (13%) and during physical activities (11%).
The point is that, according to science, there is a “sweet spot”. To work, you can't be too involved in the activity. Otherwise, the ideas don't come, but if you're not very involved, you get bored.
How to use the effect to get better ideas?
Scientists point out some activities that can improve creativity and make you come up with better ideas.
Keep swimming
“To find the solution, swim”, as Dory sings in “Finding Nemo” (2003). The first thing is to persist. Don't give up if the idea doesn't arrive soon. Continues! Creativity is like a muscle and must be exercised.
a new perspective
If something isn't working out, change the perspective. Try to work elsewhere if you can. Read something outside your bubble, listen to music that's different from what you're used to… Try new things, then the ideas will come.
press pause
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is take a break from what you're doing. Take a shower, drink some coffee, or go outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air. Sometimes, what the brain needs most is a moment to recharge its batteries.
What makes you more creative?
When you are self-aware enough, you know exactly what your triggers that lead you to a good idea. So dive deep into it! Do the activities in which you feel most motivated and creative.
You can often think better of washing dishes than taking a shower. If so, wash your pans!
*with information from Estadão.
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.
