If you’re like me, you have ideas in the shower. Whether it’s an email you forgot to send or a brilliant idea for the project you’re working on, many of them vanish before you get a chance to write them down. After all, you’re in the shower! When you’ve tried to recall these ideas while drying off, they’re nowhere to be found. All of this adds to the drain on your time and energy as you struggle to recall whatever it was you wanted to remember.
So why does this happen? Simple. When the brain introduces a bright idea or insight, it does so into your short-term memory. Unfortunately, thoughts in short-term memory only last three to five seconds before they are flushed out of the way by the next incoming thoughts and stimuli. The only way to capture these ideas is through what I call “instant rehearsal.” In other words, you’ve got to stop whatever you’re doing immediately and focus ALL of your attention on that task or idea. Here’s an example:
Not long ago, I was taking a shower and thinking about something I had to teach in an upcoming seminar. Suddenly, it dawned on me exactly how to explain the concept. But not having anything to write with, I began to write it on the steamy shower door. Even though I knew these words would disappear within seconds, I was mentally rehearsing them as I wrote and moving this explanation from short-term to long-term memory. When I got out of the shower, the first thing I did was grab a piece of paper and a pen write it down. I still have that water-stained paper because just looking at it helps me to remember the concept. I’ve done the same thing with forgotten to-do items and even opening lines for a presentation I need to make.
You can do the same thing in the shower, while you’re driving, pushing a shopping cart, chatting with a friend, or anywhere else. The key is instant rehearsal. Drop what you’re doing and focus all of your attention on rehearsing the idea. Don’t believe this works? Ask the smart decision makers you know. They’ll tell you similar stories. This is one more simple way to beat your burnout without having to change your routines or invest more energy. For more, check out our new online, self-paced course Beating Burnout. Click on the link in this post to find out more.