Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that if you get your best ideas
Speaker 1: in the shower or another inconvenient location, you can find
Speaker 1: a way to capture them. Time away from your computer
Speaker 1: can be conducive to creative thinking, but you need a
Speaker 1: way to make sure your ideas can be acted on
Speaker 1: when you find your way back to your computer. Many
Speaker 1: people have some of their best ideas while showering, driving, running,
Speaker 1: or doing some other task that is not intellectually demanding
Speaker 1: and is not conducive to taking notes. This isn't just
Speaker 1: the universe's way of tormenting us, though it can feel tormenting.
Speaker 1: Creativity and innovation are more likely to happen when we
Speaker 1: let our minds wander for a while, free from the
Speaker 1: steady stream of words, numbers, and tasks to be done
Speaker 1: that defines most of our days. But for your shower
Speaker 1: ideas to be more than just daydreams, you need to
Speaker 1: find a way to capture them. And when you are
Speaker 1: wet and soapy, or behind the wheel of a car
Speaker 1: or dodging waves in the ocean, this is easier said
Speaker 1: than done. I know there is a small market in
Speaker 1: waterproof notepads or bath crans. I guess the idea for
Speaker 1: the non toddler set is that you could write your
Speaker 1: brilliant idea on the shower wall. But you really don't
Speaker 1: need to do that. You probably already have either the
Speaker 1: physical or mental tools you need at your disposal to
Speaker 1: put your thoughts somewhere that you will be able to
Speaker 1: act upon it. My guess is that you almost always
Speaker 1: have your phone with you if you are out walking
Speaker 1: or running, it's in your pocket. So when you get
Speaker 1: a brilliant idea, pause and send yourself a quick email
Speaker 1: with your idea as the subject line. It will be
Speaker 1: there when you process your emails later. If you are
Speaker 1: stuck in traffic to the point where you can put
Speaker 1: your car in park, then you could send yourself a
Speaker 1: note this way too. But if not because you're moving
Speaker 1: some use your phone or your car's voice assistant. Hey siries,
Speaker 1: send a text to say your own name, then tell
Speaker 1: your unnerving little robot helper your big idea. Now it's
Speaker 1: captured as well. You can do the same thing in
Speaker 1: the shower. Yes, I am guessing your phone is sitting
Speaker 1: outside the shower, maybe on the counter or on top
Speaker 1: of your pile of clothes. I know I hear from
Speaker 1: people that they listen to this podcast while putting on
Speaker 1: makeup are getting dressed. If that is the case, just
Speaker 1: open the shower door and tell the phone your big
Speaker 1: idea now it's waiting for you. Of course, it's possible
Speaker 1: that you don't bring your phone into the bathroom, or
Speaker 1: if you're out jumping waves or something else, you won't
Speaker 1: have it, in which case, good for you. Your best
Speaker 1: bet in these cases is to try some little mental
Speaker 1: trick to commit your idea to memory. Strange associations tend
Speaker 1: to work best if you are in the shower. Try
Speaker 1: an association with shampoo or soap, or a towel or
Speaker 1: a razor. To use an example from my line of work,
Speaker 1: Let's say you just got an idea for a column
Speaker 1: on how to kick a screen time have it. You
Speaker 1: might picture little bottles of shampoo looking at screens and
Speaker 1: then doing whatever you had in mind in order to
Speaker 1: get off the screens. Because this mental image is so weird,
Speaker 1: you will remember it as soon as you get to
Speaker 1: your phone or a piece of paper. In a few minutes,
Speaker 1: you can write it down and release those little shampoo
Speaker 1: bottles from their labors. Now, of course, all of these
Speaker 1: ideas require that there be a time when you collect
Speaker 1: and process these inputs. It does no good to send
Speaker 1: yourself an email if you then don't go through your
Speaker 1: primary inbox with a planner or calendar in hand. Similarly,
Speaker 1: maybe you put things in a notes app, which sounds great,
Speaker 1: but if there is not a time when you reliably
Speaker 1: process those notes, then they won't do you any good.
Speaker 1: So make sure you have a collection and reflection time.
Speaker 1: But if you do, then you can capture your ideas
Speaker 1: whatever you are doing. And hopefully, once you know you
Speaker 1: can capture your good ideas, you will start to have
Speaker 1: more of them in the shower, in the car, in
Speaker 1: the ocean, or wherever. In the meantime, this is Laura,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. M Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number four then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart media dot Com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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