ASK BARDO Q&A! Q: Why do I come up with my best ideas in the shower — and forget all my inclusive leadership training the moment I open Outlook?

Georgina Brown (hershe)
Sep 11
2 min read

A: Ah yes, the Sudsy Eureka Paradox.

Your best thoughts arrive when you're shampooing your scalp like you're auditioning for a hair advert… and vanish the second your inbox hits 87 unread. What gives?

Let’s dive into the (neural) bathwater.

1. Default Mode Network: The Daydreamer's Superpower

Your brain has a whole network — called the Default Mode Network — that switches on when you’re doing… well, nothing. Or at least nothing cognitively demanding.

That’s when the magic happens. Your brain starts making new connections between ideas, solving problems in the background, and serving up unexpected insights like a mental vending machine.

Showering? Perfect DMN territory.

Email triage? Not so much.

2. Task Positive Network: The Fun Sponge

The minute you sit down to focus — emails, spreadsheets, agendas — your Task Positive Network boots up. It’s efficient. It’s focused. But it’s not creative. It’s like your brain putting on a suit and saying, “Right. No more dreaming. Let’s do the work.”

It’s necessary. But it shuts down the imaginative parts. Including everything you thought you’d remember from that brilliant inclusive leadership session. (Sorry.)

3. Cortisol + Cognitive Overload = No Retention

Now throw in stress (hello, deadlines), interruptions, and a dozen browser tabs… and your hippocampus (memory HQ) says, “I’m out.” You’re not forgetting your training because it wasn’t good — your brain just doesn’t store things well under pressure.

So What Can You Do?

NeuroNudge 1: Build in Bubbles

Create regular “shower brain” time. Walk. Stare out the window. Muck about with paint or Lego or soil. Innovation and inclusion need space to breathe.

NeuroNudge 2: Retrieval, Not Cramming

Instead of endlessly consuming content, practice retrieving it. Ask your team: What was one insight from last month’s inclusion workshop? Boom — that’s memory strengthening.

NeuroNudge 3: Hit Pause Before Reacting

When an email triggers you, don't fire off a reply. Breathe. Your brain needs to shift from reactive (amygdala) to reflective (prefrontal cortex). That’s where your inclusive muscle memory lives.