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A couple months ago I quit my software job to incubate a startup idea. I’m working out of home now and this definitely rings true. I’ll add a couple additional

A couple months ago I quit my software job to incubate a startup idea. I’m working out of home now and this definitely rings true. I’ll add a couple additional thoughts. One is that “whole program” thinking is tiring, and I can only muster about 6 hours a day. After that, my brain resists thinking deeply until the next day. Naps help somewhat, but I’ve learned to just switch gears and either enjoy some entertainment, or work on less demanding tasks. I keep a queue of lite tasks now for this purpose. Another discovery is how helpful a warm shower is to creative thought (which includes refactoring IMO). It sounds rediculous, but when I’m working on a tough problem now, I may take 3 or more showers a day. And it works! Like magic, I don’t think I’ve ever not come out of a shower with the problem solved. There’s nobody to judge me :) But if I do create a company someday, I will have onsite personal showers and encourage their use.

foreigner 8y ago
LOL my best ideas come in the shower too, but it's never occurred to me to take _extra_ showers in order to solve more problems. :-D
dasmoth 8y ago
I find nearly anything that gets me away from the screen can help with creativity. For me, gardening is one of the best. An interesting property of the shower is that it’s one of the few places where hardly anyone takes electronics. Even if you’re someone who reaches for a smartphone without a second thought while walking, the chances are you put it down before showering (the garden has a similar property —- I don’t want to handle electronics with muddy hands or gloves...)
- taneq 8y ago
  > An interesting property of the shower is that it’s one of the few places where hardly anyone takes electronics. I've been finding plane flights are good for that kind of unstructured free association problem solving too, for precisely that reason.
ummonk 8y ago
What I'd like for regular thinking is a spa. Whenever I'm fortunate enough to actually own a house, I'm going to put in a spa.

foreigner 8y ago

LOL my best ideas come in the shower too, but it's never occurred to me to take _extra_ showers in order to solve more problems. :-D

dasmoth 8y ago

I find nearly anything that gets me away from the screen can help with creativity. For me, gardening is one of the best. An interesting property of the shower is that it’s one of the few places where hardly anyone takes electronics. Even if you’re someone who reaches for a smartphone without a second thought while walking, the chances are you put it down before showering (the garden has a similar property —- I don’t want to handle electronics with muddy hands or gloves...)

taneq 8y ago
> An interesting property of the shower is that it’s one of the few places where hardly anyone takes electronics. I've been finding plane flights are good for that kind of unstructured free association problem solving too, for precisely that reason.

ummonk 8y ago

What I'd like for regular thinking is a spa. Whenever I'm fortunate enough to actually own a house, I'm going to put in a spa.