The best ideas happen in the most unusual places

Every day, every one of us can be creative, but with so much content already out there, how do you create content in such as way that it gets maximum attention and the perfect message across? After several frustrating meetings with your team, you put down some ideas and yet that genuine light bulb moment never happens. The problem is that pure creativity is very rarely found under pressure.

Olympic swimmer, Matt Biondi, once said, “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievements.” Being persistent doesn’t mean sitting in an office all day, but understanding when it’s the right time to take a break from what you are currently doing. Remember the story of Archimedes and his Eureka Moment?  Legend has it that he came up with the principles of density and buoyancy when watching water flow as he drew a bath. In the euphoria of the moment, Archimedes ran through the streets yelling “Eureka! Eureka!“

According to Harvard psychologist Shelley H. Carson, author of “Your Creative Brain,”  when your brain is relaxed and distracted by another task, such as showering or walking, you are able to subconsciously solve the main problems you are facing. This is the “lightbulb” or “Eureka” moment that people experience and it allows for breakthroughs and for you to be more productive.

Archimedes is not the only one who had a brilliant idea in an unusual place. Actually, also other successful people like J.K Rowling, Woody Allen, John Lennon and Nicola Tesla developed their best projects while they were thinking about other things.

J.K. Rowling

The English Author, J.K. Rowling, best known for creating the Harry Potter franchise, is the highest-paid author in the world. According to 2018 Sunday Times Rich List, Rowling’s net worth is estimated at around 700 million. Rowling earns approximately £6,190,042 per day, which equates to £8,480 every hour or an incredible £142 per minute. Rowling started thinking of the wizarding world of Harry Potter on a crowded train. She didn’t have a pen to write the idea down and was too shy to ask for one, so she thought about the concept for the remaining four hours of the train ride in order to lock it into her brain.

Woody Allen

The American writer, actor and director is the new Archimedes! Like the ancient mathematician, he regularly takes showers for inspiration, sometimes standing in the water for close to an hour to get his creative juices flowing. “In the shower, with the hot water coming down, you’ve left the real world behind, and very frequently things open up for you,” Allen said in a recent interview with Esquire. “It’s the change of venue, the unblocking the attempt to force the ideas that’s crippling you when you’re trying to write.“

John Lennon

Legend has it that John Lennon got the idea for “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” from looking at an interesting poster in an antique shop. Bandmate George Harrison said. “We were looking at what they had there and John pulled out this thing that we found … a little poster which had more or less the whole lyric of the song ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!’ on it … I think he was just advanced in his awareness of putting everything in a song.”

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply systems. He had many great ideas, but one of his best occurred to him far from the laboratory: the inventor came up with his idea for alternating electric currents while out on a leisurely stroll. According to the Science Channel, he used his walking stick to draw a picture explaining how it would work to his partner.

Whether you have already got the basis of a good idea or nothing but aspirations, don’t sit in the office all day; instead, go out for a walk and take a break. It’s really important that you experiment with different activities because they help you stop over-thinking. You can work more efficiently and live incredible “eureka moments” if you incorporate new interests in your daily routine like going to the gym, playing strategic games like chess or watching something you like. If you can travel and explore the world, book a few days in the place you have wanted to visit for a long time. The most successful ideas come when you relax, don’t think about your job and… shower!