Normal shower routine ‘too boring’ as more turn to multi-tasking, study finds

Many tell researchers they now have tea and eat snacks to pass time while bathing

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There was a time when washing in the shower was enough.

Press a button, apply shower gel and soap, and then dry – it is only a ten-minute job.

But today this routine, fulfilling the traditional purpose of a shower, is too 'boring' for many, a study finds.

Two thirds of British people are 'shower multi-taskers' who use their time in the water stream to complete other tasks, researchers said.

In the survey of 2,000 people by the Triton Showers firm, a third said that lathering themselves was 'boring'.

Instead, brushing teeth, drinking beer, practising yoga exercises, and singing along to music all featured as among the most popular shower activities.

Some even admitted to enjoying a cup of tea and biscuits in the wet room.

Others revealed that even in the shower cubicle they could not escape their devices, from watching television on a tablet, listening to an audiobook and even answering a phone call.

But most said their ablutions allowed them time to think, with 62 per cent citing it as their only relief from the fast pace of work and family life. One in five even went as far as to say they used the time to contemplate the meaning of life.

While 28 per cent of men had their shower head space focused on sex, women were more likely to plan an outfit.

For many adults in the study, showering proved a source of imagination for planning their next meal or food shop.

Triton Showers, the firm that carried out the research, welcomed the new 'norm' of being productive in the cubicle but warned that electrical gadgets are best left outside the bathroom.

“The shower room is clearly so much more than an area simply designated for washing," a spokesperson said.

"For many respondents [multi-tasking in the shower] has become a normal part of everyday life.

“And it makes sense to use the time wisely – although it is worrying to think people are using gadgets such as phones, tablets and shavers in such close proximity to water.”

SWNS