Where are you when your thoughts are clearest?

Wiring is definitely an OCD activity. I was an installer for Lucent for a period of time. Getting the cabling and wiring just right was most of that job.

 

Contemplating the mysteries of the universe while attending the mundane eh? I've had my share of inspiration on the throne of cogitation / elimination.

 

Alone on a trail, whether running or hiking, maybe with my dog, I think and think and think some more. Sometimes I'll have my "phone" and record the thoughts. Sometimes I even follow up on those thoughts....

 

When I'm asleep. Not a fair answer, perhaps, but when nobody's listening or making noises back @ me, my thoughts seem more clear...even if I still don't understand them.

 

Driving is when I do most of my thinking. It's amazing what a person can reason out while driving.

Showers...not so much. During a shower, I like to just close my eyes, enjoy the feel of the steaming hot water, and relax.

 

It doesn't matter where I am if I'm stressed I'm not going to do my best thinking. If I'm relaxed I can think my way through any problem or situation. Often I wake up thinking about a particular problem and easily work through a solution. When I get the chance I love staying in bed an extra hour or so just to think. I rarely get that opportunity, but it's good when it happens.

 

When I stay in bed an extra hour or so I have unbelievable colorful dreams that are a total rush. So Shower works best for me.

 

I have found the shower a great place to stimulate new thoughts. But the hot water never lasts long enough to work the ideas through, and besides, I never have anything to write them down on in the bathroom. Probably ought to get a larger water heater, but then I'd turn into a prune and be late for work. I have found that long walks are a great way to work through problems. It doesn't matter where I am--middle of a city, out in the country--the fact of going for a walk allows me the time and space to come to decisions. I used to use taking the dog for a walk as an excuse the last time I was laid off--dog loved the walks, but she came back exhausted and slept the rest of the day. I used to like to do that while driving, but I have found that I get too distracted by the task of driving itself, but I have found that driving is a great way to unwind, to release tension and stress, especially long drives in the country with either a distant destination or with no destination in mind. There is just something about driving outside the rush hour that is so soothing.....
--- merged: Feb 19, 2012 4:33 AM ---

Pace the price of gas/diesel...

 

on top of a mountain, under the stars... or firs tthing in the morning, if ive had a good nights sleep... but the latter is largely mood dependent...

 

I am not in the shower long enough to have any thoughts there. I would have said during long drives, if you asked me a few years ago when I owned a car. I don't drive all that much anymore.

I do my best thinking, with a clear mind, when I am riding my bike. A good long solo ride with nothing but the sound of my tires humming on the asphalt.

I also find that I get a lot of thinking done when I swim laps (though I don't have a pool anymore).

I think these activities tap into what B_G is talking about above. I am away from distractions.

 

Ooh yeah, I'm taking a break from winter lap swimming but I so agree, Charlatan. You can sometimes get real clarity and/or peacefulness via lap swimming. And I'm clamouring for a (new, functioning) bike for spring. I not only want to ride. I need to.

 

When I'm under pressure, doing 15 things at once. I've got a project to brainstorm, I've got a deadline in an hour.

I'm making decisions, I'm unfucking fuck-ups and somehow all sorts of crazy little random Ah-ha! meteorites bombard my tiny brain.

A radical new way to organize my sock drawer. A better way to make the most of my workout time. Things completely unrelated to the task at hand.

I guess it's the whole "a body in motion tends to stay in motion and take a bunch of shit with it as it rolls down hill" thing.

 

Guess you don't shave your legs.

I haven't been to the pool in years. But I recently started yoga, in which I got total vertigo the first class. I'm on number 10 and don't get the vertigo so bad now, but I have found that I do seem to have a clear view on my thoughts by the end of these classes.

 

Not lately.

The blood rush to the head while doing downward dog was a bit of a hurdle for me when I first started doing yoga. When I am doing yoga, I don't find that I get anything thinking done. I am too busy concentrating on the pose or trying to clear my mind of noise.

 

Yes it's the downward dog and the swan. Your right about concentrating on the pose, it's really hard. When the instructor has us sit quietly after the class it feels good, except for the weak feeling in my muscules.

 

Very true. When my brain is doing a lot, a lot of unrelated but useful thoughts come in to play. Just before curtain time, when all hell is breaking loose front-of-house, and backstage, is a good example. But I find that's good for random snippet ideas; shower time (or driving or walking) is better for developing an idea.

 

Tends to be in the middle or near the end of a work shift. The sales floor is usually mostly quiet in those hours even with the big sale/black friday/college kids starting semester again/etc things that happen.
I always carry a piece of paper with me to write down notes so I will remember them with much better clarity later on, and my head tends to shut down in the deeper thoughts category fairly quickly when I get home in the 7-8 AM timeframe. Especially on weeks that I have been sleep deprived and feeling it pileup more on me.
A large portion of the content in the movie poster in my recent TFP dorkoff post came from those kind of moments. My biggest challenge and delay was finding the balance of energy and being awake enough mentally to actually make it.