As part of my new book I decided to conduct some research looking at where people did their best thinking. Here are the results. The sample was 624 people. Please note that in some cases I have grouped similar responses (e.g. “outside” and “in the fresh air” were both counted as “outside”).
Question: Where and when do you do your best thinking?
The Top Ten most frequent answers (ranked 1-10 in descending order)
1. When I’m alone
2. Last thing at night/in bed
3. In the shower
4. First thing in the morning
5. In the car /driving
6. When I’m reading a book/newspaper/magazine
7. In the bath
8. Outside
9. Anywhere
10. When I’m jogging/running
Other answers (random list of responses, not ranked)
– When travelling
– When my feet start wandering my mind tends to do the same
– On holiday
– Late at night (1am, 2am and 3am were frequently mentioned)
– On airplanes
– Listening to the radio
– Over lunch
– Over dinner (breakfast was never mentioned)
– Unrelated discussions with new people
– Walking the dog Driving
– On trains
– When I’m not under pressure
– After I’ve slept on a problem
– When I’m not thinking about things
– On the bus
– In a café
– When I’m least expecting it
– When I’m not in front of a screen
– In church listening to music
– On Eurostar sipping a glass of wine
– Sitting on a beach
– Daydreaming
– Looking out of the window
– Whenever I have a pencil in my hand
– At the theatre
– At the cinema
– Taking a long walk
– Bathroom
– Graveyards
– Cycling
– Cooking by myself
– In the pub
– Running
– On top of mountains
– Playing golf
– Running machines
– Waiting for waves (surfing)
– When I get bored
– Before I drift off to sleep
– Looking out to sea
– When I put myself in the shoes of other people
Here are a few comments verbatim:
“Often the ‘spark’ comes when I am not supposed to be thinking. I’m afraid I am a smoker — now sentenced to pursue this awful habit outside. I think smoking is about relaxing (for me at least) — so I let my mind stop being boxed in by whatever I was doing before hand. That’s when it gets to work on its own, and that’s when it works most laterally — both in terms of what it ‘chooses’ to decide to mull on and in terms of connections it makes between things. I sometimes find it hard to retain the thoughts when having to get back to the day job of the next immediate challenge — usually have to write it down or say it to someone. This works particularly well late at night or when it’s quiet. Or alternatively “in the bath” — a bit of a cliché but true. I think the other time I think well is when I am stealing ideas from others! People say things, which lead you to make good, new connections — to see things in ways you had not previously. I’ve often said that the best ideas I have came from someone else. This is where ‘sparks’ can be molded into something more concrete that you can really do something with. So at work I like to think with 1 or (no more than) 2 people through an iterative thought process. Two brains are often better than one for really good constructive thinking. Too many brains and the process gets tough.”
Director of Strategy
“My ‘best thinking’ seems to occur when my mind is somewhat relaxed and I am not focussing hard on the issue I am actually concerned about. Initially I always have to go through a personal briefing phase with a new issue / problem / challenge – as being aware of all the facts is clearly essential. This could well involve discussions with others. But after that I don’t usually just sit still and think hard — like Sherlock Holmes with his pipe. I find it very hard to do that. Rather the issue ‘simmers’ in my mind and ideas occur, say, when I am walking the dog or driving the car…”
General Manager, Strategy
“I do my best thinking when I’m listening to the radio really loud and driving really fast. After that it is when I’m being provoked by passionate people. After that a boring airplane.”
Group Chief Marketing Officer
“Some of my best and most complicated thinking (thinking with numbers attached) happens late at night when it’s quiet and I’ve had a few drinks. In can also happen in pubs when I’m oblivious to everyone and everything around me.”
Political advisor & playwright
“On the running machine.”
Head of Design
“When walking through town. Something about the right balance of stimulus and meditation that you get when immersed in a big city. Concentration and distraction in balance and oxygen in my lungs.”
Blogger in Residence
“’Not at work’ would be our collective response from the Insights team! We deliberately hold all our ideation sessions offsite in an effort to break habits and surroundings. And always try to stagger a session over night or over a weekend so that people have time to absorb and think outside of business hours – either in the shower, driving, taking exercise, walking the dog – allowing the mind to wander and ponder!”
Head of Insights & Planning
“Without doubt as soon as I wake in the morning. By organising and reviewing the coming day in my head I find that I am more organised and efficient. This half hour of true privacy also allows for important personal things to present their priorities — which is often hard when you are active during the day. Thinking before doing really works — Einstein once said that if he had 10 days to cut down a tree, he would spend 9 of them sharpening his axe.”
Managing Director
“I usually do my best thinking on a morning run — the crisper the air, the better. My favourite running circuit is in Gloucestershire — on a small country lane near called Far Peak (Nr Cirencester). It is hilly and can be quite trying — if I have let the running regimen slip over the preceding weeks — it is a sure fire way of dissolving the mental cobwebs. I like big sky, open fields and lots of fresh air — I guess it’s an oxygen thing — but decisions or “cloudy issues” often feel more manageable after a brisk 50 minute run.”
Head of Digital
“37,000 feet and with a gin and tonic.Always have my best insights then.”
CEO
“Before falling asleep or half an hour after waken up and in the shower.”
Research Director
“I do my best thinking when my brain is uncluttered by the debris of modern day detail… is my MOT up to date, should I switch gas providers, did I send that email, which recycling bin does this go into, have I paid my congestion charge, why did I ever fork out for a debenture at Murrayfield, do my socks match, I must spend more time with the kids, pension or ISA, how does anyone get round to using their airmiles, will the neighbour’s new extension be a nuisance, where is that receipt, does that shrub need more water…or less, did my boss notice that it was me who cut him up on the way into work this morning …. Bizarrely my very best thoughts appear when somehow my brain engages on a single challenge seconds from dropping off to sleep.”
Planning Director