What Do You Think About When You Shower?
Might Be the Most Important Thing For You
Some of the most important decisions in your life aren’t made in meetings, notebooks, or brainstorming sessions — they’re made in the shower.
Not consciously, perhaps. But the shower is one of the rare moments in modern life when our minds are quiet, detached from screens, and free to wander. And what your mind drifts to in those moments — that one recurring thought that keeps coming back — says more about your priorities and your creative life than you might realize.
This isn't just idle observation. It's a powerful lens for understanding focus, attention, and what truly drives your best work.
What Are You Really Working On?
Most of us have one dominant idea in our minds at any given time. It could be a business idea, a difficult decision, a creative project, a looming problem — or a distraction dressed up as importance. When you’re washing your hair or standing under warm water with nowhere else to go, your thoughts default to that idea. And that’s your real work, whether you’ve admitted it or not.
“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are,” said Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset.
In that sense, your shower thoughts are a window into your identity. If you find yourself endlessly replaying an argument, worrying about social media, or obsessing over money, you might be letting the wrong ideas live rent-free in your head.
Beware the Mental Hijackers
Certain kinds of thoughts are especially good at hijacking your mental bandwidth. Two of the biggest culprits are:
Money worries – These are seductive because they feel urgent. But focusing obsessively on finances — especially at the cost of creative or strategic work — is like watering weeds while your real crops die in the sun.
Disputes and grievances – Arguments, insults, and perceived slights tend to latch onto our minds like velcro. They masquerade as meaningful, but rarely lead to growth. As Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher, warned: “If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.”
These kinds of thoughts don’t just waste time — they waste mental freedom. And that’s far more dangerous. They displace the real work you could be doing: building, solving, creating.
Newton’s Dilemma: The Price of Distraction
Even the greatest minds are vulnerable to this trap. After publishing his theory of light and color in 1672, Isaac Newton was pulled into endless debates with critics. These disputes consumed so much of his attention that he later decided to stop publishing altogether. He wrote, “I see I have made myself a slave to philosophy … I will resolutely bid adieu to it eternally, excepting what I do for my private satisfaction.”
It wasn’t the volume of criticism that bothered him — it was the mental cost. The real damage came from letting the wrong topic become the dominant one in his mind.
Indirect Control Is Still Control
You can’t always choose what pops into your head. But you can shape your environment, your routines, and your projects to make certain ideas more likely to rise to the top.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems,” writes James Clear in Atomic Habits. That principle applies to thinking, too. You don’t drift into deep focus by accident — you build a life where it’s more likely to happen.
So be careful what you allow to become critical in your life. If you make attention-hungry distractions essential to your success, they will dominate your mental space — even when you’re supposed to be relaxing.
A Simple Test
Want to know what your real priorities are?
Take a shower.
What do you think about? What does your mind return to? If it’s not the thing you want to be focused on — your life’s work, your best ideas, the problem you care most about — then something might be misaligned.
As the writer Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” And how we spend our thoughts — especially the quiet, unprompted ones — reveals who we’re becoming.
The Takeaway
You only have so much deep, reflective thinking available to you each day.
What your mind naturally focuses on is a powerful indicator of your real priorities.
Distractions like money problems and interpersonal conflicts are dangerous not just because they waste time, but because they steal focus.
You can’t force your thoughts — but you can shape your life so the right ones rise to the surface.
Your best ideas won’t come to you in the middle of a meeting or while refreshing your inbox. They’ll show up in the quiet moments — often in the shower.
Make sure you're giving them the space to find you.