PEORIA MAGAZINE June 2022

difference isn’t massive: 73 minutes for women to 67 minutes for men. That still seems like a lot of time in the loo. My guess is, the numbers are driven up by young parents hiding in their home bathrooms to seek a few minutes’ respite from young and needy children. Still, there’s more going on behind the closed doors than just scrubbing and grooming. The survey showed that 72 percent of people had experienced new ideas in the shower, with 14 percent taking showers solely to generate creative insights. Why? Here’s a theory from one psychologist involved in the study: “The relaxing, solitary and non-judgmental shower environment may af ford creative thinking by allowing the mind to wander freely.” Indeed, great entrepreneurs think great thoughts in the bathroom. The Japanese inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu, whose innovations include the floppy disk, often retreats to his “Calm Room,” a custom bathroom that he claims sparks creative thinking by blocking broadcast waves. If that sounds like something you’d like to try at home,

at the expense of WTVP. It’s not as if Donahue hates Big Bird or Bob Ross or anything like that. “I just connected the idea of an ‘office’ with a one-seater restroom,” he says. “It’s funny.” But not funny enough to tickle the funny bones of many patrons. “Actually,” he told me, “you’re the first person who noticed it.” Such are my modest gifts as a journalist. But the idea of a restroom as a workplace isn’t totally crazy. When it comes to productivity and creativity, bathrooms are a good place to be. A few years back, the shower-head manufacturerHansgrohe commissioned a survey regarding bathroom habits. The survey found that people spend an averageof 70minutes a day inbathrooms, which we can assume includes time in the shower and otherwise getting ready. Otherwise, I shudder to think what’s going on in there. Women spend more time in the bathroom then men, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen the endless lines outside public restrooms at ballgames or concerts. But the

keep this inmind: His bathroom is tiled in 24-karat gold, which might make for a pricey DIY project. The bathroom also worked wonders for Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s famed video-game designer. During lean times in the ‘80s, he’d soak in a vintage tub, where he came up with the idea for Donkey Kong. The game also included a character who’d break out on his own: Mario, who – consistent with his origins – is a plumber. But perhaps the most unusually inspirational bathroom ritual was pioneered by Steve Jobs, who had a pretty decent career at Apple. There, according to his authorized biography, he’d often de-stress by soaking and bathing his feet in the toilets. Hmm. I like to think I’m a good employee, but I don’t know if I’mwilling to go that far for WTVP. And if anyone has tried that at Mike’s Tavern, I don’t want to know.

Phil Luciano is a senior writer/columnist for Peoria Magazine and content contributor to public television station WTVP

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