walking Archives -

How to Unleash Your Creativity with One Simple Trick

How to unleash your creativity with one simple trick

You’re probably thinking that there’s some incredible secret here. A lot of us believe that creativity is something we left behind when we stopped falling out of treehouses and breaking our arms testing gravity going downhill with no brakes. But creativity is a belief as much as anything. We are all wired to create.

We Are Designed to Move

Similarly, we are all designed to move. A lot of us in the tech industry believe that we’re more or less heads on sticks, like mobile lollipops. But we have bodies for a reason, and if we don’t move a lot of bad things can happen. We’ve all heard those scare tactics by the people who want to sell standing desks: if you sit for too long, you’ll get diabetes and die. By contrast, when we move, a lot of good things happen. We become rich, famous, and sexy. Or at least we get in better shape and can write blog posts a lot faster!

Photo by Nikko Russano

Walking Helps Us Think

Ferris Jabr in his excellent New Yorker article Why Walking Helps Us Think, asks: “What is it about walking, in particular, that makes it so amenable to thinking and writing?” Moving the oxygen in gives the little gray cells the right kind of food to get the job done.

He also says this:

“When we stroll, the pace of our feet naturally vacillates with our moods and the cadence of our inner speech; at the same time, we can actively change the pace of our thoughts by deliberately walking more briskly or by slowing down.”

So to speed up our thoughts, all we need to do is run a brisk mile.

Put One Foot in Front of Another

Walking or hiking changes our moods and our thoughts, as well as letting us change the pace of our thoughts. We’ve all had the experience of our outer pace changing our inner pace. Sometimes it starts with music. And knowing that merely putting one foot in front of the other can quicken our thoughts, well, it’s a refreshing idea.

Daydream Believer

Whether you’re outside hiking, or inside walking on a treadmill, spacing out can lead to creative ideas. And all your need to get started is a pair of walking shoes.

It’s Not Just Anecdotal Any More

In the good old days (ok, pre-2014), people thought walking helped their creativity, but there was no science to backup the idea that creativity was linked to walking. Then a study, from Stanford came along, in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. And this article from the New York Times: Want to Be More Creative? Take a Walk.

Dr. Oppezzo, who led the study says

“Again, walking markedly improved people’s ability to generate creative ideas, even when they sat down after the walk. In that case, the volunteers who had walked produced significantly more and subjectively better ideas than in their pre-exercise testing period.”

How Does Walking Improve Your Life?

Do you walk to be more creative? Do you take advantage of the new ideas you generate right after a walk? Let me know by leaving a comment!

The Seven Social Media Creatures You’ll See in the Woods

The seven social media creatures you’ll see in the woods.

The woods are famous for tall trees and hiking. The woods are also famous for trolls. So although you may think it’s the hiking that makes you more creative, it’s actually all the running away from trolls and other creatures that gives your brain that creative edge.

Photo by MiguelVieira

Mosquitoes

There you are in your idyllic spot, minding your own bees wax (more on bees later), when along comes a mosquito. But they’re never alone. They always have tens or hundreds of friends. You could say they’re the extroverts of small woodland creatures. In Social Media Land, mosquitoes steal your work, and leave you feeling anemic.

Then There Are Ticks

Ticks are the multi-level marketing people of the woods to me. They will give you anything if only you’ll send your bank account number to a friendly Nigerian prince, separated from his family. He does not need all the money, just a small fee. Ticks are the same way. By the way, if you want to survive the Social Media Doldrums, here are some clues.

Butterflies and Moths

There are butterfly people, and then there are moth people. Butterfly people flit around and you can never get them to commit. Moths are the ones who do all the work. Just bring a lightbulb and you’ll see what I mean. Be careful, though: invite a moth into your home and they’ll build a nest in your sweater drawer! In social media terms, butterflies will promise you anything but never deliver.

Photo by peretzp

Bees

There are many kinds of bees. Bumblebees, honeybees, and miner bees. The solitary bees are the hard-workingest bees of the woods. They don’t sting because they don’t have honey to protect. And they don’t have big ol’ hives, either. Bees are different than WASPS. WASPS go to church (they are mostly Presbyterians). If you encounter a group of WASPS, make sure to sit in an empty pew.

Birds

Although they are small, hummingbirds are *holes. They refuse to stop humming, even when they don’t know the tune. This is not acceptable, even in an election year. If you carry a tennis racquet around, though, you should be pretty safe. In social media, hummingbirds are those annoying people who don’t know when to quit.

Deer

One time, I was at my dad’s house, and a deer came tearing down the street, jumped over his mailbox, and landed on a car. Therefore, because of logic, are deer all dangerous. Don’t let those big doe eyes fool you. In social media land, this is the person who spreads those bad rumors about “if you don’t share this with ten people, bad things will happen!” The best way to deal with these people? Send them to Snopes.

Skunks

Of all the denizens of the woods, skunks are the most powerful. Pound for pound, skunks can outperform any parfumerie. A little skunk goes a long way. The skunk is the Kardashian of the Internet. Apologies to the skunks.

Photo by matt hutchinson

Can You Find Any Scientific Inaccuracies in This Post?

If you can, leave me a comment! Thanks!