Relatedly, I’ve tried to reduce my habit of listening to podcasts on long walks. I didn’t realize (until way too late) that this habit was stealing creative time from my brain. Podcasts flip my brain into “passive media consumer” mode during what were otherwise my most intellectually creative minutes and hours, and nonfiction/business/tech podcasts also fool my ego into thinking that the podcast listening time is “productive”, to boot.
Interesting to see this confirmed by a study. As a writer, I've always found walks to be immensely helpful when plotting. A brisk 30-min walk is usually enough to solve any tricky plot-holes I run into.<p>Running has a similar, but immensely stronger, effect. Generally, I have near constant dialogue between my characters going on in the back of my head. When I run, it simply engulfs my mind, making it hard to concentrate on anything else. I cannot have "jogging buddies" for this reason. It's simply too difficult to listen/react to them when I have an overwhelming stream of imaginary conversation filling my skull.
> One possible future research issue: Is it walking per se or do other forms of mild physical activity have similar elevating effects?<p>I've always found that aimlessly driving around in a car improves my creativity (much the same as walking, if not more). Yet driving means you're sitting, and I wouldn't say driving involves much more physical activity than typing and moving a mouse.<p>Strange.
I don't know about creativity, but walking definitely helps me <i>think</i>. Whenever I start thinking about something real hard, I naturally stand up and start walking around the room. It helps me tremendously.
> “Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking. We finally may be taking a step, or two, toward discovering why,”<p>Uh... there is literally nothing in this summary that suggests anything at all about why, is there? What are the steps or two?<p>I know we can all make guesses and have pet theories, not asking for that here!<p>Just annoyed at the scientists who seem to be over-reaching/over-promissing what their research reveals. It seems to be a step (probably not two) towards verifying that what many people intuitively believed is in fact a wide-spread phenomenon, that walking improves creativity. It seems to be zero steps toward discovering why.<p>Am I missing something?
Not only walking improves creativity it boosts your memory and brain power. [<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNaturePage/videos/1947581662040749/" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNaturePage/videos/1947581662...</a>]. Undoubtedly, should be close to nature. There has been number of evidences, the closer you stay around nature and physically active more chances you stay fit and healthier.
What helped me greatly was a little piece of paper (moleskin) and a pen. In theory i could not all things in my smartphone. But the lure of the paper as a sketch material for ideas is unbroken. Just have it with you wherever you go and that paper fills itself.
Do not write whole essays, just single words if needed, just to anchor your "interest" in a thought direction.
I am 8 years an addict to HIIT via Les Mills Bodypump. High rep low weight. Some of my best thinking is when I “time travel” through an uncomfortable 5-min track by thinking about one particular tech/bug/architecture decision. Being immersed in thought means my workout is done before I know it.<p>I’m not sure how I can do this sometimes but can’t 1) talk to my spouse while doing these exercises or, 2) listen to podcasts. It isn’t something I can force. It’s almost like a hypnosis.
I believe this. When I'm working on something programming related I take frequent breaks to pace or walk around a little. Picked up the habit from my first dev related job, where my boss, prick though he was, didn't give a shit if you took a smoke break every 15 minutes. I no longer smoke but I still take breaks any time I feel like I'm zoning out and walk around a little, it helps a lot.
Counter-point to valid point: exercise can go by more quickly if you're interested in a podcast. And when I'm done exercising, I may not want the podcast on, so I can then focus on work. Just as certain kind of music can be on when, say, you're writing code, a good podcast can keep me in a groove.
I find that walking makes me more creative because its so boring. My mind starts to wander and try and entertain itself.
Its nice to get out and enjoy nature, but on the whole I find that walking is mentally beneficial because it reduces stimulus and allows my mind to explore ideas.
<i>Exercise boosts brain power</i> <a href="https://vimeo.com/16335377" rel="nofollow">https://vimeo.com/16335377</a> by brainrules.net<p>A funny 3.5min clip that explains why we produce BDNF during exercise and how we can enhance our brain power. Highly recommended :-)
A walk or a run is precisely what I recommend to my design students. Proponents of this strategy include George Turing, the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the writer Jonathan Swift and the
artist Joan Mirò.<p>Ref: Currey, M. 2013, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, Knopf.
At the T.J. Watson research center (headquarters of IBM Research which I had only a few occasions to visit), a number of my colleagues would always go for a stroll on the attractive grounds after lunch, and my favorite professor in grad school did the same thing.<p>When I was younger I was amoung a group of engineers that would go running during our lunch hour—though it was so hot in Texas during the summer that most of my thinking was about whether I was going to survive.
I don't think it's the walking, I think it's the enforced solitude.<p>Here in South Africa, under the glorious rule of the ANC (*spits) we have frequent blackouts. I've found that most of the best creative ideas I've had were during the blackouts.<p>Related: between 2009 and 2016 I made a 600km trip twice a month to see my son. Many of the best creative ideas I've had came out of those trips.
Never thought that the environment would have less impact, always feel more inspired in quieter and more visual environments, wonder if it is offset by me being distracted by the surroundings perhaps.<p>Also knew this joke would be in there "The study’s strong findings will have legs"
One of my favourite professors at GSB was Baba Shiv.<p>He was quite generous with his time.<p>But the only catch was you had to walk and talk, usually to the dish.<p>Personally, I’ve shifted from running to rucking(walking with weighted pack) and I often write myself notes while walking now.
I wish they would have also tested running (unless I missed it). Is there a benefit (with respect to thinking/creativity) to walking over running? I think that would be quite interesting...
As someone who tends to walk a lot (often, alone), most of the ideas I get (and solutions for problems) come up while walking. That's why I like to say "walking is thinking".
Many a times, I start walking when I've to think something challenging, which my brain is otherwise trying to avoid by distracting into something else, so am not surprised.