Don’t Waste Your Shower

Things that feel like a waste of time, like taking a shower or exercising or folding the laundry, can be put to good use as times of creative incubation.

Try This

Don’t waste your shower by taking it first thing in the morning. Instead, get to work on your creative project right away. Your decision-tank is full. Don’t waste that. Work until you get stuck, until you need ideas. Now you see where I’m going with this, right? Because the best place to get ideas is in the shower! (Or taking a walk, or folding laundry.)

Personal Timing

Of course, if you aren’t creative first thing in the morning, maybe that’s the best time to take a shower. I have found it very helpful to take a shower at night because I’m exhausted and unable to make decisions anyway, so at least I’m not wasting creative time doing uncreative tasks. However, it is even more helpful to me to take a shower mid-morning when I get stuck on my project. (Or, if I’m going strong, I just save the shower for the night time.)

Find What Works

The point is to try out different times that might be more useful for “waste of time” activities, while accommodating such things as your work schedule and other obligations. Do some experiments, get some results. I’d love to hear about what you discover.