Many people say their best ideas arrive in the shower.
It’s one of the few places left in the day where the outside world briefly disappears. No notifications, no meetings, no pressure to respond. Just warm water and a few uninterrupted minutes where the mind can wander.
For entrepreneur and podcast host Steven Bartlett, that quiet space has become something surprisingly important.
During a conversation on The Diary of a CEO, Bartlett described how he often spends far longer in the shower than it takes to get clean. In fact, he jokes that the practical part of the shower is finished within minutes.
“I will have a shower for like 30 minutes,” he says. “I’m clean after five minutes. All I’m doing in there is thinking.”
For Bartlett, the experience isn’t just about hygiene — it’s about mental clarity. He explains that something about the combination of falling water and being alone allows his thoughts to spiral into deeper reflection.
In many ways, he describes the experience as his version of meditation.
And he’s far from the only person who feels this way.
Psychologists have long observed that moments of routine combined with relaxation often create ideal conditions for creative thinking. When the body is occupied with a simple task — like washing — the mind becomes free to roam.
The shower happens to combine several powerful elements at once.
Warm water relaxes the body.
The steady sound of water creates natural white noise that blocks distractions.
And the privacy of the space removes social pressure.
Together, these conditions allow the brain to drift into what researchers sometimes call the default mode network — the mental state associated with reflection, imagination and creative problem solving.
In other words, the shower gives the mind permission to wander.
That might explain why so many people report their best ideas appearing in the middle of a shower. Problems that felt impossible an hour earlier suddenly look solvable. New ideas begin to form. Connections appear that weren’t obvious before.
What starts as a simple daily routine becomes something more like a reset button for the brain.
In a world where most moments of the day are filled with screens, notifications and constant stimulation, the shower remains one of the last places where uninterrupted thinking still happens naturally.
Maybe that’s why people hold onto their shower time.
Not just to get clean — but to get clear.
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