Murder on the Dishes

Agatha Christie and her novels

“During domestic chores I could always relax my mind completely.  Robert Graves once said to me that washing up was one of the best aids to creative thought. I think he is quite right. There is a monotony about domestic duties — sufficient activity for the physical side, so that it releases your mental side, allowing it to take off into space and make its own thoughts and inventions. That doesn’t apply to cooking, of course. Cooking demands all your creative abilities and complete attention.”

— Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

Another British novelist, Elleston Trevor, told me essentially the same thing, and I’ve found it to be true myself. 

Your unconscious mind does more than half the heavy lifting in good writing, and bland, simple physical activities can be useful in getting the conscious mind out of its way.