I come up with lots of ideas — some good, most bad — and over the years, I’ve figured out a few different ways to determine if an idea is actually worth pursuing.
One of my favorites is also one of the simplest: The Shower Test.
Quite simply: If I come up with an idea in the morning, and I hop in the shower to get ready for work, do I keep thinking about that idea? Or do I get tired of it?
I find that when I’m truly excited about an idea, I keep working through it. I’ll think about what else I could do with the idea — who I could work with on it, what else I could build from it, what success would look like for it. Often, I’ll find myself rushing out of the shower to jot down a few more ideas on a notepad.
The shower is a great space to work through ideas. Everything in the shower is routine — how often do you put a lot of thought into your shower? — which leaves time to think. I know that if I step into the shower thinking about an idea, and I’m still working through it five or ten minutes later, I might be onto something.
Maybe your Shower Test is a different quiet space: a few minutes in the car on the way to work, an afternoon coffee break, or time cooking dinner alone. Give yourself a few minutes to think through those new ideas. The ones that stick with you might be worth trying.
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That photo of a shower comes via Abigail Lynn on Unsplash.