A shortcut to your next “shower epiphany”
🚿 Today’s tip: Pick a mindless activity to do while brainstorming.
There’s a reason the “shower epiphany” is such a widespread trope: Breakthroughs tend to happen when your mind is engaged juuuuust enough to wander — ”a state of alert idleness, not sleepy boredom,” as the time-management expert Laura Vanderkam puts it.
“Idleness and getting stuff done aren’t in opposition,” she writes. “Idleness IS getting stuff done.”
The sweet spot for creativity is the middle ground between staring at a wall, which is too dull to keep up long enough for thoughts to form, and scrolling through your phone, which takes up too much mental real estate to leave room for new insights.
Vanderkam suggests picking something “habitual and effortless,” like going for a walk, weeding a garden, or, yes, taking a shower.
📚 More from Forge on finding great ideas:
The Urgent Case for Boredom
Read more >>
The Key to My Creativity Is This Weird Note-Taking System
Read more >>
The Best Teams Embrace the Worst Ideas
Read more >>
The Forge Daily Tip is sent every morning via email. ☀️ Subscribe to The Forge Daily Tip here.
You’re subscribed to receive emails from Forge. You can adjust your settings via the link at the bottom of this email.
