The Power of the Mundane

I think too much.

I remember reading the now age-old cures for design block. Take a walk in a museum, go look at architecture, or just go for a walk. It’s never worked for me. I seem to be impervious to any sort of “meditative” solutions to the block, even when I just want to take a break¹.

Recently, I’ve spent my days for the last few months staring at the same designs and the same code, without much break or variety. What I’ve found helps is doing chores, or other very mundane tasks. Cleaning dishes or vacuuming floors, for example. It “stimulates” the brain, but only enough so that it can focus on idea creation or the problem I need to solve.

Sure, you can call it the “couch potato” way of getting by, but hey, it works. :) I thought of this post while doing the dishes.