WALKING BOOSTS CREATIVE THINKING
Research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition (April 2014) shows that walking boosts creative thinking, which is perhaps why walking meetings have had some success (in spite of being “non-traditional”).
The good news is that the act of walking — even on a treadmill — does the trick! Dr. Marily Oppexxo and Daniel Schwartz, professors at Stanford Graduate School of Education found that compared with sitting down, walking indoors on a treadmill facing a blank wall or walking outdoors in the fresh air produced twice as many creative responses.
In one particular experiment carried out indoors, participants walking on a treadmill scored an average of 60% higher on divergent thinking creativity than when they were sitting.
Divergent thinking [note: this sounds like Edward De Bono’s “Lateral Thinking” to me] is when you generate ideas by thinking of lots of possible solutions. So, if you are ever stuck on how to solve a problem, a walk is what you need!!!
This may be one of the best reasons to get up from your desk or couch (together with doing your body a favour).
If you do walk (at home or outdoors), do not look at your mobile phone/tablet/other screen while you do! Unplug for a little while!
NOTE: Walking had no positive effect on the type of thinking that requires focused concentration (like writing a report or computer programming). However, speaking from experience, I can say that:
- having had a walk will help you focus better when you DO sit down (or stand) to focus on your work afterwards
- if you cannot find a bug in your code, go for a walk (or exercise). You will then easily spot the bug(s) when you get back to your desk! It works like magic.
Sources & References:
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/creativity-walk.aspx
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Edward De Bono – Lateral Thinking – http://amzn.to/2xHnf8A
Tags: walking, creativity, lateral thinking, divergent thinking