The Scientific Reason You Shouldn't Listen To Music In The Shower

Little fun fact about me: I love listening to podcasts in the shower. Is that strange? Perhaps. It's a habit I picked up when I lived alone, so maybe I unconsciously missed the constant social interactions I had while living with roommates, and podcasts can make you feel like you're having a conversation. Or, well, at least eavesdropping on one. 

But I listened to an episode of the mindbodygreen podcast with leading happiness scholar Gretchen Rubin, who advises against any mental stimulation in the shower. No music, no podcasts. (Gasp!) 

"I'm fascinated by boredom," Rubin notes. See, boredom breeds creativity, yet we don't often let our minds "off the leash," so to speak. "It's when I'm bored that I have big insights because my brain is open and trying to entertain itself," she adds. 

Research backs up her experience: One study1 tasked participants with copying phone numbers from a directory for 15 minutes to stimulate boredom; then they asked those individuals to come up with different uses for a pair of cups—a task that would give them a chance to display their creativity. 

The results? The "bored" group came up with significantly more creative ideas than the control group. Researchers theorized that participants would daydream during the passive, boring task, which ultimately led to more creativity. 

That's why Rubin recommends letting your mind wander and tap into your subconscious for at least a few minutes per day, whether you're on a walk, at a museum, or, yep, in the shower. "I don't know that I would have a brilliant insight if I walked around listening to a podcast," she notes. "As much as I love listening to podcasts, I would have been thinking about whatever the podcast was about." 

That being said, downtime doesn't necessarily always need to be productive time. If listening to music or a podcast helps you relax, please, carry on!

Some people have way too many thoughts swirling through their minds (hi), and listening to someone else's thoughts can help them decompress after a long, busy day. So I hesitate to say listening to music and/or podcasts while you shower is inherently bad.