Why You Get Your Best Ideas in the Shower - The Psychology of Insight

Unlocking Creativity: The Science Behind Shower Thoughts and Insight

In this episode of Psyberspace, hosted by Leslie Poston, the discussion revolves around the phenomenon of insight—those unexpected bursts of clarity often experienced during mundane tasks like showering. Leslie explains how these 'shower thoughts' are the result of the brain's default mode network (DMN) becoming active during periods of rest. This network facilitates creative connections by allowing the brain to make novel associations when it's not focused on specific tasks. The episode gets into the science behind how mental rest and activities that raise dopamine levels create the perfect environment for insight. It also addresses the impact of modern life's constant distractions on our capacity for creative thinking and offers practical tips for reclaiming mental downtime to foster more 'aha' moments.

00:00 Introduction: Why Your Shampoo Might Be Smarter Than Your To-Do List
01:51 Understanding Insight: The Science Behind Aha Moments
04:02 The Role of the Default Mode Network in Creativity
06:26 Incubation: The Power of Taking Breaks
08:50 The Neuroscience of Shower Thoughts
13:29 Modern Life's Impact on Creativity
16:00 Strategies to Foster Insight and Creativity
19:47 Conclusion: Embracing Boredom for Brilliance

Research

Andreasen, N. C. (2005). The creating brain: The neuroscience of genius, madness, and creativity. Dana Press. 

Ashby, F. G., Isen, A. M., & Turken, A. U. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. Psychological Review, 106(3), 529–550. 

Baird, B., Smallwood, J., Mrazek, M. D., Kam, J. W. Y., Franklin, M. S., & Schooler, J. W. (2012). Inspired by distraction: Mind wandering facilitates creative incubation. Psychological Science, 23(10), 1117–1122. 

Beeman, M., & Kounios, J. (2009). The Aha! moment: The cognitive neuroscience of insight. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(4), 210–216. 

Buckner, R. L., Andrews‑Hanna, J. R., & Schacter, D. L. (2008). The brain’s default network: Anatomy, function, and relevance to disease. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 1–38. 

Christoff, K., Irving, Z. C., Fox, K. C., Spreng, R. N., & Andrews‑Hanna, J. R. (2016). Mind‑wandering as spontaneous thought: A dynamic framework. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(11), 718–731.

Dietrich, A. (2004). The cognitive neuroscience of creativity. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11(6), 1011–1026.

Duncker, K. (1945). On problem‑solving. Psychological Monographs, 58(5), i–113. 

Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), 1122–1131. 

Jung, R. E., Mead, B. S., Carrasco, J., & Flores, R. A. (2013). The structure of creative cognition in the human brain. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 330. 

Jung‑Beeman, M., Bowden, E. M., Haberman, J., Frymiare, J. L., Arambel‑Liu, S., Greenblatt, R., … & Kounios, J. (2004). Neural activity when people solve verbal problems with insight. PLoS Biology, 2(4), e97. 

Kounios, J., & Beeman, M. (2009). The Aha! moment: The cognitive neuroscience of insight. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(4), 210–216. (duplicate; same as Beeman & Kounios–2009)

Kounios, J., & Beeman, M. (2014). The cognitive neuroscience of insight. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 71–93.

Kounios, J., Fleck, J. I., Green, D. L., Payne, L., Stevenson, J. L., Bowden, E. M., & Jung‑Beeman, M. (2008). The origins of insight in resting‑state brain activity. Neuropsychologia, 46(1), 281–291. 

Kushlev, K., Proulx, J., & Dunn, E. W. (

Episode Transcript

Leslie Poston (00:11):
Welcome back to PsyberSpace. I'm your host,
Leslie Poston. This week, we'retalking about why your shampoo
might be smarter than your to dolist. We all know the feeling.
You're staring at your screencompletely stuck.
Hours go by. Nothing. Thensuddenly, while shampooing your
hair or unloading thedishwasher, the solution pops

(00:34):
into your head like it waswaiting for you the whole time.
That burst of clarity, thatmoment of, oh, that's it, is
more than just a quirky humanexperience. It's a window into
how insight works.
There's a reason we call themshower thoughts. It's a real
thing. You're doing somethingautomatic. Rinsing, scrubbing,

(00:56):
walking, or driving. Your bodyis engaged, but your mind is
drifting, and suddenly, there itis.
The perfect idea, a creativebreakthrough or the exact right
words for that thing you weretrying to say to someone
earlier. These moments can feelmagical, but they aren't random.

(01:16):
They're your brain workingdifferently in a specific mode
that fosters creativity andproblem solving. This episode is
about the moments when yourbrain surprises you with
brilliance, usually when youleast expect it. We're diving
deep into what that insight is,how your brain generates it, and

(01:37):
what it has to do withdaydreaming, dopamine,
distractions, and, yes, theshower.
We'll also talk about how modernlife is kind of killing off
these moments and how we canbring them back. Psychologists
define insight as a sudden novelunderstanding or solution that

(01:58):
seems to appear out of nowhere.It's a cognitive event where
your brain restructures aproblem or concept in a new way.
Insight is different fromanalytical thinking, which is
both linear and conscious. Withanalytical problem solving, you
methodically work through steps,building toward a solution piece

(02:19):
by piece.
You can usually explain yourreasoning as you go. Insight, by
contrast, arrives in a flash. Itfeels automatic, emotional, and
often even physical. One moment,you're stuck, and the next
moment, the answer is simplythere, fully formed and

(02:39):
obviously correct. Researchershave studied insight using tasks
like the remote associates testwhere participants link
seemingly unrelated words likepine, crab, and sauce and are
asked to find a word thatconnects them all.
The answer, apple, creates thatsatisfying click of recognition

(03:03):
when it hits you. If you'veplayed games like the New York
Times Connections game, thismight feel familiar as they
gamified similar concepts tocreate it. Using EEGs and FMRIs,
those same researchers foundthat just before people have an
insight, their brain shifts intoa specific pattern. It's like

(03:25):
the brain quiets down in onearea and lights up in others. It
happens fast, and it feelsfinal.
What makes these moments sodistinctive is their emotional
signature. That feeling isn'tjust psychological decoration.
It's actually your brain's wayof marking important cognitive

(03:46):
breakthroughs, flaggingsolutions that feel both novel
or new and correct. But here'sthe key. Insight doesn't just
show up because you triedharder.
It shows up when you stop tryingso hard. When you're resting,
not focused on any task, andjust letting your thoughts

(04:08):
drift, a group of brain regionscalled the default mode network
kicks in. The DMN, as it'scalled, is responsible for
internal thought, daydreaming,imagining the future, reviewing
old memories, and even talkingto yourself in your head. For
decades, neuroscientists focusedon what the brain does when it's

(04:31):
actively engaged in tasks. Butresearchers started noticing
something curious.
When people weren't doinganything in particular, when
their minds were allowed towander, this specific network of
brain regions would light upintensely. The DMN is a
connector. It helps differentpieces of information recombine

(04:53):
in creative ways. When you'renot focused on solving a
problem, the DMN quietly worksin the background. It's linking
new ideas to old memories.
It's blending fragments ofexperiences and building new
mental models. This networkincludes regions that specialize
in what researchers call mentaltime travel, remembering,

(05:17):
planning, making connectionsbetween ideas that might never
have met in a more focused stateof mind. And this is why your
best ideas arrive during periodsof rest. Your brain isn't idle.
It's working on your behalf in amore diffuse playful way.
Studies have shown that duringperiods of mind wandering, the

(05:39):
DMN is highly active, and thisisn't zoning out. It's insight
incubation. In another study,neuroimaging work with highly
creative individuals found thattheir brains showed particularly
strong DMN activity duringcreative tasks. When writers,
artists, and inventors wereasked to come up with original

(05:59):
ideas, their default networkswere firing intensely. The
shower, as it turns out, is theperfect DMN activator.
You're engaged in a simpleroutine activity that doesn't
demand much conscious attention.Your mind is free to wander, to
make those loose associationsand unexpected connections that

(06:21):
are the hallmark of creativeinsight. When you head a mental
wall and then take a break, yourbrain doesn't stop working on
the problem. It just changes howit's doing the work. This
process is called incubation.
It's the reason stepping awayfrom a tough problem usually
helps to solve it. The conceptgoes back to Graham Wallace's

(06:43):
1926 model of creativity, butwhat seemed like folk wisdom a
century ago now has solidexperimental backing. New
research consistently shows thateven short periods of rest or
engaging in a low demand tasklike folding laundry can improve
problem solving. Even briefperiods of incubation, sometimes

(07:06):
just a few minutes, can lead tosignificant improvements in
creative thinking. This issomething that meditation is
good for as well.
During incubation, your braincontinues sorting through
possibilities, but without thepressure or narrow focus that
blocks insight. Your consciousmind stops trying to force a

(07:28):
solution, but your unconsciousmind keeps working. It's sifting
through memories, exploringunusual associations, testing
potential connections withoutthe constraints of deliberate
logical thought. And here'swhat's important. It wasn't just
any break that helped in thesestudies.
It specifically was breaks thatallowed the mind to wander.

(07:51):
Participants who did demandingtasks during their breaks showed
no incubation benefit. But thosewho did simple boring tasks that
allowed their minds to driftshowed significant improvements
in creative problem solving.Insight often requires not just
new information, but a relaxedmental environment where that

(08:11):
information can be restructured.Incubation makes space for that.
When a promising solutionemerges from this unconscious
processing, it bubbles up intoconsciousness as that sudden
moment. This means that walkingaway from a problem is not
giving up. It's a sophisticatedcognitive strategy. In fact,

(08:33):
research consistently shows thatpeople are thirty three percent
more likely to solve insightproblems after REM sleep when
the brain actively consolidatescreative connections. The phrase
sleep on it has literalneuroscientific backing.
One reason insight likes theshower? Dopamine. That feel good

(08:56):
chemical is linked to cognitiveflexibility. Your brain's
ability to make unusualconnections. Warm showers, walks
in nature, quiet rituals, theyall raise dopamine levels in
gentle ways.
When you're in a warm shower,several things happen
simultaneously. The hot water ismildly pleasurable, which causes

(09:19):
a gentle release of dopamine.You're engaged in a familiar
automatic routine that doesn'trequire too much cognitive
effort. You're temporarilyisolated from external demands
and distractions, and you're ina relaxed, low stress state.
This combination isneurochemically perfect for
insight.
Dopamine doesn't just make youfeel good, it enhances cognitive

(09:42):
flexibility, which is criticalfor the kind of broad
associative thinking that leadsto creative breakthroughs.
Martindale and others have shownthat when dopamine is flowing,
people are more likely to engagein associative thinking. That's
when your ideas bounce aroundmore freely, leading to
unexpected combinations. Stress,on the other hand, restricts

(10:03):
this. When you're anxious orunder pressure, your thinking
narrows.
Insight needs room to move. Arelaxed state allows your brain
to scan widely and pull togetherdistant concepts. And that's the
magic mix, a mind at ease with alittle dopamine boost. There's
also something important aboutthe level of arousal during

(10:24):
these moments. You're alertenough to think, but not so
stimulated that your attentionbecomes narrowly focused.
This moderate level of arousalseems to be optimal for what
psychologists call defocusedattention, a state where your
mind can make loose unusualconnections between ideas. The
shower also provides whatresearchers call soft

(10:46):
fascination. Gentle sensoryinput that's interesting enough
to be pleasant, but notdemanding enough to capture your
full attention. The sound ofwater, the warmth, the simple
physical motions all create akind of meditative state that's
conducive to insight.Neuroscientists have found that
just before those insightmoments, people show increased

(11:10):
alpha wave activity, the samerelaxed brainwave state
associated with meditation and,yes, that blissful shower
feeling.
Have you ever walked away from adifficult conversation only to
come up with the perfect replyor come back ten minutes or
three hours later or even in theshower the next day? That is not

(11:35):
a character flaw. It is acognitive pattern. Stressful
interactions activate your fightor flight system. Your body
floods with cortisol.
Your mind narrows to survivalmode. The parts of your brain
that handle complex thought geta little quiet. You're not dumb
in the moment. You're focused onstaying safe or getting through

(11:55):
it. During that heatedconversation, your nervous
system is in a state of mildactivation.
Your attention becomes narrowlyfocused on the immediate
perceived threat, defending yourposition, processing what the
other person is saying,monitoring their emotional state
as well as your own. This narrowfocus is actually adaptive in

(12:18):
high pressure social situations,helping you to navigate the
immediate interaction. But thissame narrowing of attention also
constrains your access to thebroader network of associations
and memories that could generatethat perfect witty response. And
then later, when you're relaxed,your DMN can revisit the moment
and remix it. Your insightsystem gets another pass.

(12:41):
That's why the sharpest, mostarticulate version of you shows
up a little too late. Your brainjust needed time to feel safe
and process. Once the pressureis off and your nervous system
has returned to baseline, yourbrain begins to simulate the
conversation that just occurred.In this relaxed state with your
cognitive resources freed up,your brain can access a much

(13:02):
wider range of memories,knowledge, and creative
connections, and it can take thetime to craft a perfect
response, weighing differentoptions, finding just the right
tone and phrasing. Your brain isnot being slow or inefficient
when it generates the perfectcomeback after the fact.
During the actual conversation,it was doing exactly what it

(13:22):
needed to do, helping younavigate a complex social
situation in real time. Here'swhere modern life gets in the
way. All of this. DMN activity,incubation, associative thinking
requires mental breathing room,but we fill every moment with

(13:45):
distraction. Phones in thebathroom, podcasts on our walk,
scrolling between tasks, openconcept offices, no time between
meetings, filling our every day,our every moment of every day
with something to do.
Think about your typical day.When was the last time you
allowed yourself to be trulybored? When did you last find

(14:09):
yourself with nothing specificto think about? No immediate
task demanding your attention.No screen calling for your
engagement.
For many, these moments havealmost completely disappeared.
We check our phones while wewait for the elevator. We listen
to music or podcasts whilewalking the dog, missing

(14:29):
opportunities to talk to ourneighbors or just think. We
scroll through social mediaduring what used to be our quiet
moments. Even in the bathroom,once a guaranteed sanctuary for
unstructured thought, many of usare now bringing our phones.
Research shows that fragmentedattention and constant input
reduce creative output and limitspontaneous thought. When we

(14:52):
eliminate boredom, we eliminateinsight. This constant
stimulation isn't just changinghow we spend our time, it's
changing how our brains work.Studies suggest that our
capacity for sustained focus isbeing systematically undermined
by digital environments designedto capture and fragment our
intention. When your attentionis constantly being pulled in

(15:15):
different directions, your brainnever gets the chance to settle
into those deeper states ofprocessing that generate
creative breakthroughs.
There's also emerging researchsuggesting that constant digital
stimulation might be interferingwith the default mode network
itself. When you're alwaysconsuming information, always

(15:35):
responding to external stimuli,the brain regions involved in
internal thought and reflectionget less practice. If we want
those genius shower thoughtsback, we're gonna have to
reclaim our idle time. We needmore quiet gaps, more unfocused
moments, more permission to notbe productive every I'm gonna
challenge you to spend some timeeach week being bored on

(15:57):
purpose. So how do we make spacefor more insight?
Start by building in lowstimulation time. Take device
free walks. Let yourself stareout the window. Shower without a
podcast as much as I want you tolisten to this one. Give your
brain quiet rituals.

(16:18):
And going back to me telling youto be bored on purpose, truly
embrace boredom. This might bethe most important advice I can
give you. In a culture thattreats boredom as a problem to
be solved immediately, learningto sit with unstimulated mental
space becomes a radical act. Trythis. Next time you're waiting

(16:38):
somewhere, resist the urge topull out your phone.
Let your mind wander, and noticewhat thoughts arise when you're
not feeding your brain constantinput. Try journaling, doodling,
or daydreaming. Let yourthoughts wander without trying
to pin them down. Insight likesa gentle nudge, not a command.

(16:58):
Build regular unstructured timeinto your routine.
This could be that daily walkwithout podcast or music or time
spent in your garden thissummer, or maybe do your dishes
without any backgroundentertainment, or just sit
quietly somewhere in your houseor outside with a cup of coffee
in the morning. And don't read.Don't listen to anything. Don't

(17:20):
talk. Create rituals aroundproblems you're trying to solve.
When you're stuck on somethingimportant, try spending focused
time thinking about the problem,gathering relevant information
and exploring obvious solutions,and then deliberately step away.
Go take that shower, go for awalk, or do something completely

(17:41):
unrelated. Give your unconsciousmind permission to take over.
Protect your boredom like youprotect your calendar. We talked
about protecting our calendar inour episode on why meetings
suck, but it applies here too.
Your best ideas often come whenyou're not trying to think at
all, when your mind is allowedto roam, when you're rinsing

(18:04):
shampoo and suddenly there itis. Pay attention to your
personal insight patterns. Like,some people get their best ideas
while exercising on thetreadmill, others while doing
repetitive tasks like foldinglaundry, and still others during
that transition period betweensleep and wakefulness. Notice

(18:24):
when and where you have your ownmoments and try to create more
opportunities for thoseconditions. Your brain is much
smarter than you give it creditfor.
Sometimes the most productivething you can do is nothing at
all. These moments of apparentinactivity are actually some of
the most productive thinkingtime you can invest, a

(18:46):
significant difference in yourcapacity for insight. Engage in
activities that naturallypromote the kind of relaxed
associative thinking that leadsto creative breakthroughs. This
might include spending time innature or engaging in creative
hobbies, practicing meditationand mindfulness, or, again,
taking those long, aimlesswalks. But most importantly,

(19:08):
trust your process.
When you step away from aproblem, you're not giving up.
You're engaging a different kindof intelligence. Your brain is
continuing to work on theproblem in ways that conscious
effort simply cannot match.Those moments of apparent
inactivity are actually some ofthe most productive thinking
time you can invest. Andremember, insights can't be

(19:30):
forced, but they can be invited.
By creating the rightconditions, the mental space,
the relaxed attention, thefreedom from constant
stimulation, you're rolling outthe welcome mat for your brain's
most creative capacities. Yournext great idea might just be a
shower away. So there you haveit. The science behind why your

(19:51):
best ideas arrive when you'reshampooing your hair instead of
sitting at your desk,frantically trying to think of
something brilliant. Insightisn't magic.
It's your brain doingsophisticated background
processing when you give it thespace and conditions it needs to
work. So the next time someonetells you that you're just
procrastinating by taking a walkor stepping away from a problem,

(20:12):
you can tell them that you'reactually engaging in a
scientifically validatedcognitive strategy. You're
activating your default modenetwork, creating conditions for
incubation and giving yourunconscious mind the opportunity
to make these creativeconnections that conscious
effort often can't achieve. Inour hyper connected world,
protecting time for insightmight be one of the most

(20:34):
important things you can do foryour creative and intellectual
life. Your brain is quietlybrilliant, but only when you
give it room to breathe.
So here's a question to takewith you. When was your last
shower thought that genuinelysurprised you? And more
importantly, what are you goingto do this week to create more
space for those moments ofunexpected brilliance? Thanks

(20:55):
for listening to PsyberSpace.I'm your host, Leslie Poston,
signing off.
As always, and until next time,stay curious, and don't forget
to subscribe so that you nevermiss a week. And if you find
these podcasts helpful, share itwith your friends. Thanks for
listening.