Have you ever been in the shower washing the dirt of your day away and a random, powerful epiphany takes over your thoughts? It may be you’ve thought of a solution to a problem at work you’ve been pondering over for weeks, or even a life-changing decision. Well, let me be the first to tell you these grandiose thoughts don’t come from that Bath & Body Works collection of soaps that you use. It’s actually moreso the act of bathing in general that helps to prompt this moments of creativity.
Research proves that most epiphanies come to you when you are doing a mindless task. It’s when your brain turns to “auto pilot” mode that you actually have the most creative thoughts. According to Alice Flaherty, one of the most renowned neuroscientists currently researching creativity at M.I.T., “the shower can turn into an incubation period for your ideas to give you a distraction that triggers natural dopamine in the brain and provides the break you need to disengage from a fixation.”
Flaherty says that “when you attempt to focus on a problem your brain deactivates its default mode network.” Your brain’s DMN is what allows it to disconnect different regions of your head.
Essentially, when your body is relaxed your brain sends you into a different type of daydreaming that allows it to disconnect from its various regions and give you the ability to “think outside of the box.” When your mind is in this state, your conscience remains at bay and can’t dismiss your creative thoughts way.
So how do you use this information to your benefit? If you find that you aren’t the most naturally creative individual, here are ways you can use this tidbit of info to better capture your creative side.
1. Keep a notebook with you at ALL times:
This one is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s very important. Though it may seem ridiculous, even keep a tablet with you in the bathroom. The worst thing a person who struggles with creativity can do is not jot down every random bit of creativity that pops in their head on the spot.
2. Plan disengagement and distraction.
When you have a big task at hand, start working on the most important pieces initially, then stop and begin working on some of the more monotonous pieces, and then return to the other portions again. This way of working tricks your brain to switch back and forth between conscious and subconscious brain power.
3. Overwhelm your brain.
According to a Psychology Today study , taking on a task/project that you may have found to be intimidating, and likely too hard for you to achieve, will force your brain into an overload shock, giving you a more creative focus. And though you may actually not achieve what you set out to accomplish, having done this will make slightly less intimidating tasks a lot easier.
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