Why do I always have a lot of ideas when I take a shower? It turns out it’s because…

Do you often have flashes of inspiration while in the shower?

I was racking my brains during the day but couldn’t figure it out. When my body was in full contact with the hot water, I suddenly realized, “So that’s it!” It turns out that the bug I had been looking in the wrong direction for during the day was not fixed! It turns out that the reason I couldn’t pass a level in the puzzle game was that I missed a key clue…

This kind of example not only happens to us, but also famous people in history have long understood the magic of bathing. It is said that Archimedes often got inspiration while bathing, and the bathroom was an important place for him to find solutions to problems. His major discovery - the method of measuring the volume of the crown - was made while bathing.

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Why can we get inspiration and even produce breakthrough solutions to problems that we can't solve in study, work or life after racking our brains? This way of promoting creativity by "taking a break" has a long history in psychology, and this effect is also called the "shower effect".

Today we will talk to you about the causes of the "bath effect" and what it can teach us.

Why does the "bath effect" occur?

1

Bathing can bring a state of relaxation and a pleasant mood

Research indicates that bathing can help relax the mind and body, reducing stress and tension, which can provide a more open and relaxed state for thinking and creativity, making it easier to generate good ideas.

Psychological research has found that people experience insights when they are sleeping, taking a shower, or doing other mental relaxation. Insight is a kind of "ah, so that's how it is" experience.

We often take it for granted that inspiration comes when we relax, so why is relaxation, such as taking a shower, the key to promoting enlightenment? This is because when we sleep or relax, the right hemisphere of the brain is more active than the left hemisphere.

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The right hemisphere of our brain is involved in coarse semantic coding (that is, our brain encodes the words or concepts we hear or read accordingly to allow us to better understand their meaning). When it is active, it activates the search for abstract solutions that are not easy to think of directly. This search is conducive to solving complex problems, especially creative tasks that require insight.

Many research reports point out that before insight occurs, there will be activity in the right hemisphere of our brain. In other words, the right hemisphere of the brain is more active when we are relaxed. This process can be said to be the preliminary preparation for insight, and then in this relaxed state, we have many creative ideas.

2

Bathing can help your mind wander

I believe everyone has this experience in life: when we are stuck on a problem, sometimes doing something else first to distract our attention will help solve the problem. In fact, taking a bath can also play a role in "changing your mind".

In 1926, psychologist Graham Wallas proposed that our creative solutions to problems often require an "incubation period." Moderate participation in unrelated activities, such as taking a bath or taking a walk, can help solutions to incubate successfully.

Going further, the latest research published in 2022 in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts conducted a more in-depth study of the bathing effect.

The author points out that the process of bathing allows us to "mind-wander" in a limited environment. This process of mind-wandering allows us to be in a state of balance between concentrated linear thinking and unlimited random associations, which is conducive to the generation of creative ideas. Simply put, this state of balance is in the middle state between "completely focusing on a single problem" and "completely divergent thinking". In this state, we will have many ideas that have not been bound by the mindset, but are not too unrestrained.

Therefore, the process of taking a bath can help us extract relevant associative information while suppressing some irrelevant thoughts, enhance the wandering of thoughts, promote the successful incubation of ideas, and improve creativity.

3

The positive effects of sensory stimulation brought by bathing

Some researchers have also found that the audiovisual experience brought by the shower process, like the white noise of rain, the hum of buses or trains, may make us pay less attention to peripheral stimuli and easily enter a more creative and unfettered state of thinking. In other words, sensory stimulation such as the sound and touch of water may also help promote creativity and inspiration.

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In addition to bathing, researchers also pointed out that the above "ah, that's why" experience may also occur to a certain extent when driving, taking a bus or a train. For example, Mullis thought of the polymerase chain reaction while driving; JK Rowling suddenly thought of the idea of ​​the Harry Potter series on the train. Psychologists point out that the process of traveling can also promote the wandering of thoughts, thus promoting the successful incubation of creative ideas.

4

Bathing gives us a space for independent thinking

When bathing, we usually enjoy the warmth and softness of the water alone. This is also a good environment for independent thinking and self-reflection, which can stimulate creative thinking and inspiration.

Bathing, as a relatively private activity, allows people to obtain a relatively quiet and independent environment, which helps people think independently and deeply about problems.

Moreover, bathing provides us with a time and space for focused problem solving, allowing us to focus on our feelings and experiences. This can improve attention and concentration, making it easier to generate good ideas.

How to take advantage of the "bathroom effect"

Serve our lives?

1

Take a bath or soak your feet tonight

No matter how busy you are during the day, take a shower and go to bed on time at night. Let yourself relax, enjoy the touch of warm water, and listen quietly to the sound of water flowing and falling.

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2

Let your mind roam free

Don't set limits on your thinking. Relax and let your mind wander freely. Don't force yourself to come up with ideas or solutions to problems right away. Daydream and let yourself go.

3

Record at any time, don't miss the sudden inspiration

No matter what you are doing, when a good idea suddenly comes to your mind, you can use your phone's notepad or file transfer assistant to record the good idea anytime and anywhere.

4

Keep yourself as relaxed as possible

After a meal or a shower, try to keep yourself relaxed instead of immediately getting into intense work or tasks. Sit down and spend a few minutes quietly thinking about the inspiration that just came to you, which may be a treasure for your work or study in the second half of the year.

5

Walking, yoga, traveling, try to find a method that suits you better

Give yourself some time and space to relax and be alone. Not only taking a bath, but also other similar activities are OK, such as taking a walk in the park, listening to light music, and doing yoga. Everyone thinks differently, so it is best to find the method that suits you best.

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Finally, I want to tell you that the "bath effect" is not a panacea for creative thinking or problem solving. Not every time you take a shower, you will have new ideas. Sometimes taking a break, relaxing yourself, and letting your mind wander can also bring unexpected insights and solutions!

References

[1] Beeman, MJ, & Bowden, EM (2000). The right hemisphere maintains solution-related activation for yet-to-be-solved problems. Memory & Cognition, 28, 1231–1241.

[2] Bowden, EM, & Beeman, MJ (2003). Aha! Insight experience correlates with solution activation in the right hemisphere. Psychometric Bulletin and Review, 10, 730–737.

[3] Irving, ZC, McGrath, C., Flynn, L., Glasser, A., & Mills, C. (2022). The shower effect: Mind wandering facilitates creative incubation during moderately engaging activities. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

[4] Lehrer, J. (2008). The eureka hunt. New Yorker.

[5] Ovington, LA, Saliba, AJ, Moran, CC, Goldring, J., & MacDonald, JB (2018). Do people really have insights in the shower? The when, where and who of the Aha! Moment. Journal of Creative Behavior, 52(1), 21.

[6] Wallas, G. (1926). The art of thought. J Cape.

Planning and production

Produced by | Science Popularization China

Author: Qi Shuting Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Producer | China Science Expo

Editor: Yinuo

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