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

Author:

Jamie Schneider

October 16, 2024

Former Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Editor

By Jamie Schneider

Former Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Editor

Jamie Schneider is the former Senior Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.A. in Organizational Studies and English from the University of Michigan, and her work has appeared in Coveteur, The Chill Times, and Wyld Skincare.

Image by Rene de Hann // Stocksy

October 16, 2024

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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!)

According to the New York Times bestselling author, my shower-time habits might be sabotaging my creativity—and I'm not the only one.

Should you listen to anything in the shower?

"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 study 1 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."

So if you're hoping to spark some new, original thoughts, you might want to avoid any sort of mental stimulation. "You need this open-searching time in order for new ideas to bubble up," she adds. "This is why people get ideas in the shower or in the middle of the night—it's a downtime where then the brain creates its own fun."

But relaxation time is different

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.

And I don't think that's what Rubin is trying to get across either—if you're hoping to tap into your creativity, just try to find a time when your mind can truly play.

The takeaway

Apologies for upending your shower routine, but you might want to take Rubin's advice and shut off the audio while you rinse. Your best ideas may bubble up when you let your mind wander, and shower time is the perfect opportunity to daydream. Of course, you could opt for a silent stroll instead—I personally might commit to that every once in a while and can keep my podcast habit alive.