Here are the last five place you can do that:
- The Car: Turn off the radio and turn on those wheels in your brain. As someone who is paid for his big ideas, I think of MPG as Millions Per Gallon! On the road we are both relaxed and alert. Our brains are geared for this neutral mode. Ideas start popping up everywhere. And stop sign are gifts to let you write down those thoughts.
- The Shower: It’s enclosed, private has got a great sound and is warm. It’s a womb for ideas! That’ s why we have so many in the shower. I actually installed a shower in my office with the letters T-H-I-N-K etched in five tiles. Baths work too. After soaking in a tub all day Archimedes conceptualized “volumetric weight.” Leeping out of the bath he screamed “eureka!”
- The John: Rodin’s famous statue “The Thinker” assumed the position for good reason. Sitting on the john is a time of release in more ways than one or two. This can be a time for deep contemplation rather than just a waste.
- The Park: Nietzsche would take long walks in the park tom generate his super thoughts. Unfortunately many of us have NDD- Nature Deficit Disorder. but nature has all the big ideas. Imagination was born here. Get outside your head and head outside.
- The Church: I was born Jewish but when I need a big idea I go church. Nothing beats it for divine inspiration because their architecture is built on the idea of getting as close to the heavens as humanly possible. Hence the tall spires.
When Albert Einstein was interviewed at Princeton University, he was asked how he spent his day. The professor calculated that 20% of his time was spent teaching his students and 80% was invested into looking outside his window. Ponder that!
