This is why science says you get all your best ideas in the shower after exercising

Despite my best attempts to be a morning person, I’ve always preferred my workouts in the late afternoon and evening. After work, I like to shake my desk body loose with some exercise, then rinse off, eat dinner, and cozy up for the night.

Since I started working remotely, however, I find myself quickly returning to my laptop after a shower and a post-workout workout. I’m usually full of new story ideas, have an email I’m ignoring, or am experiencing the opposite of writer’s block: a waterfall of words or a Carrie Bradshaw-style monologue I need to write down.

I’ve come to trust those creative impulses, knowing that no matter how bad the workday makes me feel, I’ll shower after exercising and feel like I have a completely new brain.

I know I’m not the only one who has some of their best ideas or problem-solving breakthroughs while rinsing off after a sweaty workout. And there’s actually a lot of science that can explain why that is. It turns out that the combination of a workout mood boost, a relaxing shower environment, and the ability to go on autopilot can turn a fairly mundane experience into a creativity goldmine.

According to experts, this is how it works and how you can use these moments to make the most of your creativity.

An analysis of the creative process

We often think of creativity as an inherent quality that some people possess and others don’t, but it’s actually more of a skill or mindset. And it’s not just about coming up with ideas for artistic projects; creativity is seen as the foundation of problem solving, innovation, and adaptive thinking. To tap into this, it helps to understand the creative process.

“In most cases, creativity is a function of a series of steps,” says Indre Viskontas, PhD, president of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity and associate professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco.

First, we gather information, build skills, or define the problem we’re going to tackle, she says. Second, we incubate.

“That is, we try not to think too much about the problem or to think about it differently,” says Dr. Viskontas. “To do that, we generally have to let our minds wander a little bit and focus on something else for a while.”

Finally, we refine, edit, or verify the idea, she says. But that second step, the mind-wandering, is where exercise and shower time come in handy.

The Link Between Practice and Creativity

Exercise has undeniable benefits for your brain, including your creativity.

“There are many ways that exercise promotes creativity, from improving mood to putting our brains in a state that often leads to ‘aha!’ moments of insight,” says Dr. Viskontas.

A review of the research on this topic, published in January 2024 Discover Psychology found that walking, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, and dancing all improved divergent thinking (also known as thinking outside the box), while vigorous exercise was associated with improvements in the quantity and flexibility of ideas. The effects could be immediate (for example, if you’re struggling with a creative block) or long-term, as you can build a habit of regularly switching your mind between states (think: relaxed versus excited), Dr. Viskontas says.

In fact, being more active in your daily life is linked to greater creative power; a small July 2020 study of 79 people published in Scientific reports found that those who exercised moderately to vigorously on a daily basis showed higher creative performance compared to those who exercised little or not at all. Additionally, a December 2022 meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine Open found that regular exercise has a more powerful effect on creative ideas than a single workout.

It’s unclear exactly why exercise has this effect, but the researchers behind the January 2024 study hypothesize that it could be because physical activity improves associative ability (i.e., linking concepts from memory) and cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt and switch between different mental tasks or sets of information in response to changing environments). Both of these factors are the basis for divergent thinking.

One reason is that exercise can help us open up to new experiences, whether it’s taking a walk, running a new route through your city, or taking an exercise class filled with new music or moves. This is important because openness to new experiences is one of the few personality traits consistently associated with creativity, Dr. Viskontas says.

“And exercise builds endurance, which is necessary for most creative work. Because let’s face it, it’s hard,” she says.

Movement can also be very helpful as it is a great environment to let your mind wander and naturally take you into step two of the creative process.

“(We can) let our minds go where they want, and that can often take us to the next stage of creativity — the insight or aha! moment when a great idea pops into our head,” Dr. Viskontas says. It essentially gets us out of our heads so new thoughts can come to the surface.

Katie Steele, LMFT, executive director of the Athletes Mental Health Foundation and co-author of The price she pays (a book about mental health in women’s sports), has experienced this first-hand.

“A majority of the ideas for The price she pays “The first time I did it during a training session, writing after the training came very easily,” she says.

A 2020 study in PLoS One confirms that there is a connection between intentional mind wandering and divergent thinking. So if you start with a problem you want to solve, it can help you come up with and finalize a solution.

As you probably already know, exercise also improves your mood, and feeling good in general is actually instrumental in exploring new ideas. Feeling good is associated with more creative thinking than feeling bad, because ruminating on one set of thoughts prevents better ideas from coming to you, says Dr. Viskontas.

“Connecting with creativity is a privilege and certainly a lot harder to achieve when there are safety concerns or when a person’s basic needs are not being met,” Steele explains.

This can be a matter of literal safety and survival (for example, if you live in an unsafe environment), but also an imagined safety. For example, if you experience constant stress, anxiety and tension because of your work, you may not have access to this free-thinking, carefree and creative state.

“You are free from other distractions while you are in the shower, and often the combination of all of these factors allows thoughts, feelings, and actions to come together in the most meaningful way.” —Katie Steele, LMFT

The shower experience

Exercising itself can be a great way to boost your creativity, but showering after a workout can boost those benefits even further. Like many workouts, showering is another mind-altering activity, except that you’re less likely to be distracted by music, your phone, or the world around you in the shower.

“It’s one of the few times of the day when we do something that’s not mentally taxing, but also not totally engaging, giving our imagination network a chance to do its thing, without constraints,” says Dr. Viskontas.

Researchers have found that this type of intermediate task — one that is not boring, but only moderately engaging — strikes a good balance that leads to more creative ideas, according to a 2022 study published in Psychology of aesthetics, creativity and art.

That post-workout mood boost lingers, and there’s a calming, fluid element to water that can evoke other senses and experiences, Steele says. Made famous as the “blue mind theory” by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, who wrote a book on the subject, it suggests that being in, on or around water helps you achieve a light meditative state in which you feel calmer, more at ease and more connected to yourself and others.

Combining that feeling with the mental clarity after training creates an open mind for new ideas, Steele says.

“You’re free from other distractions while you’re in the shower, and often the combination of all of these factors allows thoughts, feelings, and actions to come together in the most meaningful way,” she says.

How to make the most of this creative moment

If you want to break out of a creative block or harvest your best ideas for a post-workout shower, these tips from Dr. Viskontas and Steele can help. Just don’t overthink it and let it flow; as famed author Ray Bradbury said, “Thinking is the enemy of creativity.”

1. Choose the right training

Certain types of exercises allow your creativity to flow freely.

“It can’t be so engaging that you need 100 percent focus,” says Dr. Viskontas. “There needs to be some space for wandering thoughts or imagination. In general, aerobic exercise of mild to moderate intensity seems to be best, especially if it puts us in a new environment, like running or walking, or even swimming.”

Research shows that contact with nature and listening to music both boost creativity. Exercises that involve listening to your favorite music or going outside may have even stronger benefits.

2. Microdose when needed

While a sweaty workout and shower might seem like a great way to stimulate creative thinking, you can also get a boost from much smaller, more accessible bouts of physical activity: the 2024 review found that just three or four minutes of walking is enough to facilitate divergent thinking. This can be handy if you’re at work or school and need a quick pick-me-up.

3. Record as soon as possible

That’s quite a challenge when a light bulb goes on in the middle of a burpee interval or when your head is covered in shampoo.

“If possible, when you have a flash of inspiration to create, use it in the moment,” Steele says. “It can be hard to bring that passion and vision to life later when the moment or clarity and creativity is more distant. At the very least, capture the themes or ideas you just generated in a note and give them some context so that if you need to come back to them later, you can recapture the feelings.”

4. Be prepared when you set off

If you find yourself enjoying exercising or showering more, arm yourself with tools that will help you organize your thoughts at the right time.

“I often use running to do my most creative thinking,” Dr. Viskontas. “My strategy is to define the problem I need to solve right before the run and then run with my notes app open so I can jot down those new ideas as they come.”

When you’re in the shower, you can shout at your phone or a smart speaker to jot down a note or text your ideas to a friend or family member. You can explain it later. Shower ideas are so common that someone even designed a waterproof notepad that sells for $15 on Amazon so you don’t have to flush great thoughts down the drain anymore.

5. Keep the pressure low

According to Steele, it is important to be patient with yourself and to view your creativity as a process and not as a result.

“Embrace the mind wandering!” adds Dr. Viskontas—and you can only do that if you don’t think too much about what you want.