The record opens with Bert quietly taking a shower, and Ernie wants to sing along in the bathroom, so he forces his way in. The sound quality in the bathroom is better. Later, the entire Sesame Street gang runs into the bathroom to sing. At that age, it wasn’t clear to me why Bert was upset with Ernie or the gang. Sure, the sound quality in the bathroom was better.
I found myself more on
It may be a cliché that many people say their best ideas come in the shower. Yet, like Bert, many of us lack the downtime to relax and “turn off” our brains. After all, the shower can be one of the last bastions of self-reflection; a place where we can put down our phones, computers, and any other distractions and let our brains do what they do best.
This is what I call “offline processing.”
Many studies have shown that when the brain is not distracted, it has more “RAM” available to solve complex problems. Since I’m not a botim database neuroscientist, I’m going to take this at face value and focus the discussion on how we as individuals can create the necessary space to solve the most complex problems and avoid singing in the shower.
So how do you create space for problem solving?
In short, it varies from person to person. However, I believe there is a method that anyone can follow to find the space they need to avoid chattering and from developing language learning apps to have some creative space to solve complex problems: Rule 1 – Set aside at least 15 minutes While spending more than 15 minutes can improve your problem-solving abilities, I think 15 minutes is the bare minimum for unplugging. I
find 15 minutes to be a good amount of time for me
Unplug without affecting your other daily tasks. Rule 2 – Find a place to change your environment In an age where time is a limiting factor, we’re rich data too focused on getting enough “down time.” I think where you spend those 15 minutes is just as important as the 15 minutes themselves.