It happens in the shower all the time…
With shampoo bubbling in my hair, the long-awaited solution to an formidable problem strolls casually into my brain.
Why is that?? Why do the stellar ideas arrive when I am without-paper-and-pen and the water is pouring from the shower head?
The answer: Because I are not multitasking. I shampoo. I wash. Not much else. I don’t have to think. These activities are routine and rote. My mind then has space to go off and remember things that I have forgotten to do, things that I need to do, and yes come up with the elusive solution to a nagging problem. Finally… my mind has space to work and be creative!
We need space to breathe. Much research indicates that multitasking has cognitive costs.
This is not new news! We admonish teens about studying, listening to music, and texting friends all at the same time. Yet we adults choose to talk on the phone and manage emails and drive all at the same time. And, then we wonder why we cannot figure out solutions to issues in our lives. Hmmm….
We need to give ourselves some space in time. We need to not schedule the day like an overbooked doctor’s office.
Create Space
By creating space in your day to sit and relax, you allow your mind to move beyond the rapid-fire, to-do-list mentality and into creative, problem-solving intelligence. It’s great to have the “shower moments” outside the shower! Paper does so much better when it is dry.
This may play out in your life by cutting back some activities. Or, it may be better use of the minutes in your day. Ultimately, the goal is to have moments of non-thinking, even boredom. But most definitely, we need to do less in order for our brain to do pondering, even percolating, through the thoughts of the day.
The Lord created us with the ability to reason and understand. In our haste to accomplish much in 24 hours, we bypass the opportunity to develop long-term solutions and identify needed adjustments in life. Decide today to return to the land of the living!
It’s simply transformational!
Your turn
What can you do today to give yourself some space?
Some people plan only 75% (or less!) of their day. Consider this: how can there be room for the Lord to work or for you to help others when your agenda is full?
Improve how you spend your day. Intentionally choose among the many activities and opportunities without the guilt of un-involvement.
Some people keep a gratitude journal. At the end of the day, they write all the things for which they are thankful and how they saw God’s hand in their life. Pausing and recording these things or at least keeping them in your mind is a valuable use of new found space in time.
Check this out: Here is a notepad that can live in the shower! I bought one, suctioned it to my shower door, and now no more lost shower ideas! YAY!
Consider adding a Sunday evening overview. Review the upcoming week’s calendar. When possible, spread out commitments to allow for treasured space.
Please always remember though…it’s not all about the time management. It’s about truly living life instead of allowing the clock & calender to live through you.
Posted by Sharon R. Hoover
Photo Credit: M i x y via photopin cc
Visit the “Space” link-up:
I appreciate your ideas and reflection here, Sharon. I had never thought of planning 75% of my day–not that I parse things out by percent–but I like the idea of deliberately leaving space instead of planning as much as possible and hoping there’s some free time left over. Thank you.
The shower has been that kind of space for me, too. So has the time in between sleeping and just waking for the day. I read once that the brain waves are different at that time, so when I experience a mental block while I’m writing, I will sometimes lie down as if I’m going to sleep, or simply close my eyes at my desk and relax into almost a dozing state which seems to help the thoughts start to flow. I’m not sure what’s happening to the brain waves while I’m in the shower! Enjoyed your post!
Ahhh…maybe our brains are able to relax in the shower, too. Warm water, quiet place, and steam to wash the troubles away. Interesting thing to ponder. Thanks for adding to the conversation, Amanda! :-)
Oh Sharon, it IS so true. I fight against the multi-tasking because it just seems to eat away at my brain, so I appreciate that we’re on the same page with that. My best ideas tend to wake me up at 3 in the morning, no joke, but I’ve found that if I quickly allow myself to write them down, then they stop bugging my brain and I can fall back asleep. :)
The 3 am wake-up moments get me too, Cara! I’m working on having more of a calm mind so the 3:00 ideas can come in the pm-time and not the am-time!
I used to keep a wet-erase marker in the bathroom to write on the mirror or the glass door. I can’t write like that on my current tile, and I miss catching those shower epiphanies. I’ll have to look into the shower notebook! Thanks!
Ooohhh…love the wet-erase marker idea, Renee! I have glass shower doors. If I run out of paper in my shower notebook, I will add a marker in the bathroom. :-)
You have some great ideas here that aid in seeing how and what God is doing. Thank you.
Life’s busyness can surely fill our brains! So glad you visited and had time to ponder God’s presence with me, Chara. :-)
I kept a gratitude journal last year! It was a healthy discipline that enabled me to remember the good moments in a challenging day.
Shower epiphanies are the best and worst! I wonder why the shower is so magic? I’m grateful for it, though, even if I often lose the brilliance before I find a notebook. :D
Wow, awesome discipline to keep a gratitude journal for the whole year! What a wonderful resource you created for future references, Jamie. The magical showers do indeed provide huge amounts of inspiration. I recently found a solution to the lost ideas: the waterproof notepad. I LOVE it!! :-)
Great reminders, Sharon. I try to set aside time in my day and boundaries for our month to give myself and my family the time we all need. I am thankful for this #wholemama link up reminding us of all the facets of space. And just how important it is!
So true! I love taking this time to consider the topic of space. The breathing room in space widens margins. As my margins grow, I have found it much easier to maintain boundaries. Thanks for stopping in!
The shower is the place where I get epiphanies of all sorts. It’s where I get some of my best ideas, until I lose them on the way to getting pen and paper. Love the idea of living life rather than living a calendar. Good word!
It’s a constant struggle between living life and living the calendar. Some days I do better than others! :-) Thanks for stopping by, Marvia.
Thanks for joining #wholemama this week, Sharon! It’s interesting that last night on the #wholemama fuze call a couple of people mentioned getting ideas while showering and then forgetting them by the time they were done. I think your analysis is right, that we actually have time then because we are not multitasking. This is truth here: “But most definitely, we need to do less in order for our brain to do pondering, even percolating, through the thoughts of the day.” Blessings to you this day!
Hi Gayl! Incredible how new ideas arrive when the brain has some space. I’m sorry to have missed the #wholemama discussion last night. Hope to connect next week. Thanks for stopping by!
I have found that solutions to something, or inspirations, usually come to me while sleeping, so I started keeping a notepad and pen by my bedside to capture the thoughts before they disappear. If I wait until morning they often will be gone. I have to admit there are probably more nights that I don’t write down something that seems important to remember because I don’t want to sit up to write it down. I think I will remember it when I get up but end up losing it. There has been a few times I have remembered something, but most just vanish if not recorded. You could use an audio recorder rather than a pen and notebook.
Another time inspiration may come to me is while washing dishes or doing other housework. My best insights come to me while studying and reflecting on a Bible chapter or passage. For this also, I need to have a notebook and pen to journal these insights and how they relate to my life.
Like you say, Sharon, when our minds aren’t busy with other things, but doing things like gardening, walking, or anything that relaxes us, frees up our mind to a more creative flow. We can also to be prayerfully listening to what God may impress on us when we lift a particular thing up to Him.
Annie
Bedside notepads can indeed capture breakthrough inspirations! So true about what relaxes us (gardening, walking, even doing dishes) also allows us to be open to hear from the Lord. Thanks for your insights, Annie!
Planning my day is not an option due to caregiver responsibilities. But I can use some of those God given moments more effectively. I love to sit in the swing outside, listen to the birds, and just let my mind rest. Like you, I have found the shower to give me great insight…only to lose it by the time I am dressed and functional. Great post.
May the Lord give you multiple “mind rest” opportunities, Carol Ann. Caregiving truly brings its own challenges when time is not your own. I’m delighted this post encouraged you! I hope your shower-moments continue … with the recollection ability to then get it down on paper! :-)
Wow! Sharon- yo hit it on the head for me- literally! I love you said, “in our haste to accomplish much in 24 hours, we bypass the opportunity to develop long-term solutions and identify needed adjustments in life.” Praying the Lord will deliver me from “busy” and free me to His productivity. blessings!
I love your phrase to “free me to His productivity.” What a beautiful image of keeping the Lord’s promptings first and foremost for the day! Thanks so much for adding to the conversation!
Good ideas Sharon. I have a very busy brain, and it’s difficult for me to “rest” it. I have found, like you, that inspiration comes at the most inconvenient moments. (I started to write “unlikely moments” but then I realized that they are perhaps the most likely moments if I’d just treat them as such:) I am a planner, so I do plan space in my schedule. What is more of a challenge for me is to adjust when God puts space where I didn’t, and vice-versa. Judy