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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that if you get your best ideas in

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Speaker 1: the shower or another inconvenient location, you can find a

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Speaker 1: way to capture them. Time away from your computer can

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Speaker 1: be conducive to creative thinking, but you need a way

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Speaker 1: to make sure your ideas can be acted on when

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Speaker 1: you find your way back to your computer. Many people

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Speaker 1: have some of their best ideas while showering, driving, running,

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Speaker 1: or doing some other task that is not intellectually demanding

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Speaker 1: and is not conducive to taking notes. This isn't just

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Speaker 1: the universe's way of tormenting us, though it can feel tormenting.

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Speaker 1: Creativity and innovation are more likely to happen when we

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Speaker 1: let our minds wander for a while, free from the

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Speaker 1: steady stream of words, numbers, and tasks to be done

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Speaker 1: that defines most of our days. But for your shower

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Speaker 1: ideas to be more than just daydreams, you need to

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Speaker 1: find a way to capture them. And when you are

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Speaker 1: wet and soapy, or behind the wheel of a car

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Speaker 1: or dodging waves in the ocean, this is easier said

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Speaker 1: than done. I know there is a small market in

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Speaker 1: waterproof notepads or bathcrans. I guess the idea for the

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Speaker 1: non toddler set is that you could write your brilliant

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Speaker 1: idea on the shower wall. But you really don't need

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Speaker 1: to do that. You probably already have either the physical

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Speaker 1: or mental tools you need at your disposal to put

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Speaker 1: your thoughts somewhere that you will be able to act

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Speaker 1: upon it. My guess is that you almost always have

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Speaker 1: your phone with you if you are out walking or running,

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Speaker 1: it's in your pocket. So when you get a brilliant idea,

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Speaker 1: pause and send yourself a quick email with your idea

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Speaker 1: as the subject line. It will be there when you

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Speaker 1: process your emails later. If you are stuck in traffic

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Speaker 1: to the point where you can put your car in park,

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Speaker 1: then you could send yourself a note this way too.

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Speaker 1: But if not because you're moving some use your phone

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Speaker 1: or your car's voice assistant, Hey Siri, send a text

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Speaker 1: to say your own name. Then tell your unnerving little

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Speaker 1: robot helper your big idea. Now it's captured as well.

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Speaker 1: You can do the same thing in the shower. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I am guessing your phone is sitting outside the shower,

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Speaker 1: maybe on the counter or on top of your pile

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Speaker 1: of clothes. I know I hear from people that they

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Speaker 1: listen to this podcast while putting on makeup or getting dressed.

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Speaker 1: If that is the case, just open the shower door

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Speaker 1: and tell the phone your big idea now it's waiting

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Speaker 1: for you. Of course, it's possible that you don't bring

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Speaker 1: your phone into the bathroom, or if you're out jumping

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Speaker 1: waves or something else, you won't have it, in which case,

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Speaker 1: good for you. Your best bet in these cases is to

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Speaker 1: try some little mental trick to commit your idea to memory.

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Speaker 1: Strange associations tend to work best if you are in

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Speaker 1: the shower. Try an association with shampoo or soap, or

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Speaker 1: a towel or a razor. To use an example from

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Speaker 1: my line of work, Let's say you just got an

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Speaker 1: idea for a column on how to kick a screen

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Speaker 1: time habit. You might picture little bottles of shampoo looking

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Speaker 1: at screens and then doing whatever you had in mind

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Speaker 1: in order to get off the screens. Because this mental

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Speaker 1: image is so weird, you will remember it as soon

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Speaker 1: as you get to your phone or a piece of paper.

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Speaker 1: In a few minutes, you can write it down and

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Speaker 1: release those little shampoo bottles from their labors. Now, of course,

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Speaker 1: all of these ideas require that there be a time

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Speaker 1: when you collect and process these inputs. It does no

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Speaker 1: good to send yourself an email if you then don't

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Speaker 1: go through your primary inbox with a planner or calendar

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Speaker 1: in hand. Similarly, maybe you put things in a notes app,

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Speaker 1: which sounds great, but if there is not a time

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Speaker 1: when you reliably process those notes, then they won't do

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Speaker 1: you any good. So make sure you have a collection

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Speaker 1: and reflection time. But if you do, then you can

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Speaker 1: capture your ideas whatever you are doing. And hopefully, once

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Speaker 1: you know you can capture your good ideas, you will

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Speaker 1: start to have more of them in the shower, in

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Speaker 1: the car, in the ocean, or wherever. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b the number

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Speaker 1: four then Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me an

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Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot Com that

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Speaker 1: before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters, thanks

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Speaker 1: so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.