Holly CumminsTIL there's a technical name for why ideas happen in the shower: the "default mode network" is a pattern of brain activity, measurable using fMRI, that happens when we're unfocussed. When the brain goes into idle mode (reduced activity), this part of the brain actually becomes *more* active. What does the default mode network do? Research is ongoing, but part of it definitely seems to be making connections, which is associated with curiosity and creativity.
I had an idea once that - in opposition to what Shopify are doing, by reducing meetings - organisations should have *more* meetings. The more terrible, tedious, and dull, the better.
Why? In bad meetings, our mind wanders, and we become creative. Meetings - if they're bad enough - are a bit like the shower of the modern workplace.
(Well, except that showers make you happy and clean, and bad meetings make you irritated and grubby. And stupid, because of carbon dioxide levels.)
Marc-Antoine Ruel@holly_cummins Thanks for the link! https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/08/the-science-of-why-you-have-great-ideas-in-the-shower was a good read.
re: "[To activate DMN], allow yourself to spend time doing activities that aren’t cognitively demanding—such as going for a walk, taking a warm bath, or gardening—without listening to music or a podcast."
I feel the real DMN killer is social networks!
As someone who has over 20h of meetings per week and being fairly strict on weeding out low value meetings, my favorite mid-day activity is doing the laundry.