I now take two very long walks/day- a "working walk" where I walk and answer emails and think, and a "relax" walk where I leave my phone at the desk and just look at the flowers and houses and dogs. It's been amazing for my mental health, physical health, and productivity.
Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
191–200 of 254 posts
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#192I now take two very long walks/day- a "working walk" where I walk and answer emails and think, and a "relax" walk where I leave my phone at the desk and just look at the flowers and houses and dogs. It's been amazing for my mental health, physical health, and productivity.
Same. I prefer walking outside (as would anyone) but I find even walking within my own home is pretty good, for people who have enough space. I may look like a maniac pacing in circles while watching some philosophical YouTube video on the big TV, but it's nice.
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#193I’ve solved many technical problems on the way to or from a coffee shop about a 30min walk from my house :)
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#194I now take two very long walks/day- a "working walk" where I walk and answer emails and think, and a "relax" walk where I leave my phone at the desk and just look at the flowers and houses and dogs. It's been amazing for my mental health, physical health, and productivity.
I have above average adhd, enough to drive my poor wife crazy if I run out of my rx. Walking helps a lot! I probably walk a few miles a day otherwise I begin pacing in my house or office.
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#195I would always walk around in a tight circle in my room for a quarter hour. If on a voice call, for hours.
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
I decided to go offline for this summer. I got a dumb phone and a card for public transportation, instead of the app I'm using now. Downtime from the algorithmic manipulation has been the breeding ground for my creativity and this is one more step to this direction.
I wish more people knew you can turn iPhones and Androids into dumbphones through MDM and other methods. It would save people money , you wouldn't have to sacrifice security, and they wouldn't complain about losing Google maps or Signal. Result is no ability to install apps and no web browsing. It's really a smart, smartphone because you get the benefits of it being smart without becoming dumb through the distraction…
It's a mental thing too, the years of habit have built up such that for me smartphones are associated with distraction.
It's like deciding to quit smoking but using an empty cigarette pack to carry your credit cards. Sure, I'm not smoking, but every time I pay for something I have to squash the urge.
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#197"Walker" here and glad to see so many others agreeing this helps them. I also talk to myself and find it incredibly helpful, despite my wife thinking I'm a weirdo.
I hope as leaders and future leaders we can create a culture more tolerant of these practices, changing the perception that "if you aren't at your desk, you aren't working."
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#198I was a doubter until COVID. Then I built a habit of 30 to 60+ minutes of walking a day, ~1.5 to 5mi depending on length and pace. Geez , the amount of stuff I got done, problems I solved, and general boost to well-being I achieved was lost on me until a job pushed those walks out of the workday. My productivity wasn’t the same. Definitely going to block off a walk around the harbor during most workdays going forward…
A few years back I was freelancing by the sea. Every few hours, I'd walk down to the shore and look at the ripples and the waves. I'd go maybe three times a day. I remember this being — aside from profoundly meaningful in itself — very refreshing and beneficial for my work.
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#199I'm lucky I walk twice a day with my coworkers, it's a parking lot not the previous place where it was a trail. It was beautiful in the summer under all that green. And there were paw paw trees so got to eat those when they were ripe.
Funny too like 3 years ago we were discussing ingesting manuals for a RAG thing and now that is my day job.
Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
#200I was a doubter until COVID. Then I built a habit of 30 to 60+ minutes of walking a day, ~1.5 to 5mi depending on length and pace. Geez , the amount of stuff I got done, problems I solved, and general boost to well-being I achieved was lost on me until a job pushed those walks out of the workday. My productivity wasn’t the same. Definitely going to block off a walk around the harbor during most workdays going forward…
Do you listen to anything while walking, or just listen to nothing while letting your mind clear itself?
For several years I walked to and from the office, about 1.5 miles each way. Typically in the morning I would listen to a podcast or audiobook, and on the way home I would often continue thinking about whatever I had been trying to figure out at work. I found it useful.