Stuck on a problem? Go to the sauna and let your brain wander

Last week I spent three days stuck on the same problem in Edicek. I tried different approaches, rewrote code, stared at the screen. Nothing worked.

I recognized the pattern. When I'm this stuck, more screen time won't help. I needed to reset my brain completely.

So I went to the sauna.

I go to a sauna complex near my house. Multiple saunas with quiet, dark relaxation zones. The kind of place where people actually relax instead of socializing.

I walk in and commit to silence. No small talk with strangers. No phone. No distractions. Just me and the heat.

I sit in the heat for 10-15 minutes, then step out, grab water, and lie down in the dark relaxation room. This is where it happens.

After my body recovers from the heat shock, my brain has nothing to do. No screen to look at. No conversation to follow. Just darkness and silence.

And that's when ideas start coming.

The solutions aren't forced. I'm not actively trying to solve the problem. But my mind starts wandering to the project naturally. Connections I didn't see before become obvious. Approaches I dismissed earlier suddenly make sense.

During normal work, I'm switching between tasks, checking notifications, responding to messages. My mind never gets to wander.

The sauna removes all of that. There's literally nothing else to do except think. Or not think. Both work.

Last week, lying in that dark relaxation room, I figured out the problem I'd been stuck on for three days. It took maybe 20 minutes of lying there doing nothing. The solution was obvious once my brain had space to see it.

We're overstimulated all the time now. Phone, computer, notifications, conversations. Our brains don't get bored anymore. And boredom is when creativity happens. When your mind connects dots you didn't know were related.