alt Hacker NewsTaking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)
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I can attest to this. I work in Midtown Manhattan. You'd think walking around meant getting distracted by the all the activity around you that you'd forget about the problem you're trying to solve.
But I've found that distraction is the catalyst. Creativity for me comes when I focus on something else for a while, not grinding on the same problem with unwavering focus.
I am a runner and have a standing desk. When I run, my mind is more on than at the computer. These days when I run I mentally compose prompts for the LLM when I return to my computer. So beware the illusion that simply walking away is inherently, and unintentionally, meditative. Likewise at my standing desk, the physicality of standing turns all at-desk time into an almost combative wrestling match with my tasks. Just sharing… some optimizations from 15 years of life hacking but still can’t escape the deeper psyche stuff.
Walking, showering, sleeping, and riding a bike are great ways to debug code.
It's very cool to go to sleep and wake up knowing what the solution to the problem is.
The key for incubation for me is to make sure my brain can churn without distractions (that means no listening to podcasts, music, etc while performing said action).
Always wonder whether this fits with Jeff Hawkin's "Reference Frames" where he ties movement to learning and understanding - and I would also say creativity.
It makes sense. It hard to think creatively when your environment is stagnant. You need some new sights and sounds to kick things along, especially when you’re stuck on something.
I like the story of Shigeru Miyamoto getting the idea for flying through archways in Star Fox from walking through archways in a Shinto shrine near the Nintendo headquarters. It wasn’t from playing other video games or reading about game development, it was just from thinking creatively about his real world environment right outside the office.
Days after I graduated high school in 2004, my parents moved me and my family out to a 15 acre property in the middle of nowhere. Mowing the lawn on a riding mower was an all-day affair. The time I spent on that mower with just my own thoughts were some of the most meditative and creative of my life.
There is even a latin phrase for it: solvitur ambulando.
To add to the historical references, here's a quote from Nietzsche: all truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
I try to walk 10k steps every day. Not only for my health but also for my mind. It helps me to calm down and gain fresh energy for other tasks.
Kant was so famous for taking a daily walk at precisely 3:30 p.m. that the residents of Königsberg could set their clocks by it.
In the field of hacking, a great way to make progress on a thorny programming puzzle is to be anywhere other than in front of an actual computer.
Some of the most complex problems I've ever solved were solved when I was mowing my own lawn with a push mower. Just in a trance. Many of the best life decisions I've ever made were when I was on a walk, thinking things through.
Steve Jobs transformed four industries.
One transformation, for example, required getting permission to sell songs for $1 each when the labels all wanted to price each song differently. That required getting alignment from various titans at the record companies.
The way he accomplished this was to take these leaders on walks in the hills behind apple hq. Read about it in the biography of Jobs by Walter Isaacson.
Unless you like me, like to walk fast so you go back home ungrier than never because:
1. people walking like turtle in front of you
2. people on phone not looking at where they go
3. both
Each morning, I take a 5K walk (about 3 miles).
It’s a good opportunity to “triage” the day ahead.
If I have a vexing bug, I often “fix” it, during my morning walk.
Could have just asked me. I've taken advantage of that in the bulk of my life.
It's astounding how many work problems I've found the solution to in just. the 80 ft walk to the bathroom. If I ever managed people, I would absolutely mandate scheduled movement/calisthenics/walking breaks. Almost seems like a cheat code.
Dictation + Claude enable this to be an actual working modality now. Does anyone else find themselves working in this way. (In addition to decompression walks of course!)
https://www.inferterra.com/the-new-workspace-a-first-princip...
Possibly related to "showerthoughts", in that removal of stimuli allows for latent realizations to surface.
I especially despise sitting down right after lunch to get back to work.
I must take a walk first.
Taking a walk right after eating helps stabilize blood sugar and digestion.
Highly recommend.
Absolutely. If the weather isn't nice, I will even walk around in the office.
I intuitively agree. Some of my good ideas come from sprint walking...and sitting on the toilet.
"the only thoughts of value are those reached through walking" - Nietszche
(reading that in German might have more nuances)
My secret is out
Absolutely agree. I circumnavigate Lake Merritt pretty much every day mostly because it puts my brain a good place to be productive. The exercise is helpful too.
In other news, water is wet.
Yeah, and shift your eyes around, it gets you out of your head and makes you more aware of your environment as you walk!
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I 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 so I can refresh the slate so to speak.