12 ms·

Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

407 points by bootload 9y ago

matthewwiese 9y ago
Great read. Thanks for the link. I often get the same energized writing vibe after a run. Though unlike the article emphasizes near the end, my 5 mile daily run is preplanned (obviously) and so leaves my brain able to effectively "dissociate" and enter that realm of creative thinking that often precedes our falling asleep. After the first couple miles, my body gets into the groove and I'm able to either serenely absorb my surroundings -- the geese and their Spring young, say -- or float around in that gooey reality between daydreaming and acting. Steve Jobs was a particularly notable "hacker type" who enjoyed walks. So besides the article's writer bent, I'd say idle physical activity is a good choice for those who just want to think.
- jwdunne 9y ago
  Not at all particular to writing. I believe Einstein went on frequent walks too. A walk through a park or a country path would be even better: greenery and nature has shown to boost creativity in some studies.
  - hinkley 9y ago
    Greenery boosts mood. Elevated mood makes you more optimistic about your crazy ideas. Some of your crazy ideas aren't so crazy.
bootload 9y ago
". When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messages between them." New neurons. The next line about walking being easy tells me you live in a flat area with no obstacles. "A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete." Uneven ground. I always look for uneven ground. Walking on concrete, man-made paths is the equivalent of looking at brick walls.
- femto 9y ago
  Maintaining balance on uneven ground also works your lower back and pelvic floor more than on a concrete path. Strengthening these can help if you have back plane (and one could argue that chronic pain is an impediment to thinking).
  - kakarot 9y ago
    I'll have to try that, my back plane always takes off at the worst time.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  " The next line about walking being easy tells me you live in a flat area with no obstacles." But it is pretty easy once you get muscle built up and get used to the obstacles. I live in a mountainous area. I climb a fence daily and go over a bit of land with no concrete path - though admittedly everyday walking is on concrete most times. Going out into the countryside doesn't make it any more difficult.
  - 24gttghh 9y ago
    I actually find it more difficult to walk on flat concrete than walking on a trail with rocks and roots and leaves. I weave all over the place because there is nothing to keep my attention to where my feet are being planted.
  - bootload 9y ago
    "is pretty easy once you get muscle built up and get used to the obstacles." There are hills, and then hills ~ https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/3957949381/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/3957949381/
- coldtea 9y ago
  >The next line about walking being easy tells me you live in a flat area with no obstacles Unless you live on a mountain-top or near minefields, walking is still very easy compared to most other options except sitting and laying on a bed. And even if you do live in such a place, it's usually pretty trivial to find a non-mountainous/non-obstacled path to walk in the surrounding area. Didn't say it has to be just next to your door.
biztos 9y ago
This may be today's least original comment, but I've recently discovered the magic combination of podcast and treadmill. (I knew them both, separately, for a long time already.) In addition to helping make 30 minutes of sweating go by much faster, I find it almost always generates a bunch of ideas. Like a little brainstorming walk, if you will, but all-weather and easier to schedule. My current favorite podcast for this is the Andreessen Horowitz "a16z podcast." http://a16z.com/podcasts/ http://a16z.com/podcasts/
- rahuldracula 9y ago
  The a16z podcast would generate a bunch of ideas irrespective of what your feet are doing.
- AriaMinaei 9y ago
  The combination of (roundtable discussions|debates|audiobooks) with (walking|cleaning house|washing dishes|other chores) is the most productive procrastination technique I have. It changes mental context, stimulates the brain, and makes the chore enjoyable. I even sometimes do it while writing code. Of course, I can't take it all in, but I still find that it enriches my experience.
  - agumonkey 9y ago
    I do chores as yoga exercise, never thought of adding podcast to the blend..
    - petra 9y ago
      I work in manufacturing, and sometimes i listen to podcasts, but sometimes i meditate(like tai-chi, attention to body movements) while working. Meditating is harder(and coffee is helpful), but when successful, is much more satisfying.
      - agumonkey 9y ago
        I'm still not sure I approached a meditative state by "meditating". When I play drums I do get into a slight trance / bliss where I kinda become music and my mind shifts off.
RichardHeart 9y ago
Whenever I'm learning things when walking, the location an idea popped into my head is pretty much never forgotten. I'm not sure whether its actually valuable, but it feels like it makes the ideas unforgettable. I'm going to assume the value is real because: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci I think consuming some portion of your subconscious with repetitive activity frees up some blocking on your conscious thought, so that you can stay engaged on an idea for longer. It's like your normal boredom/frustration loop gets muted by the repetitive behavior (music, movies in background, walking, fidgeting, etc.) Sometimes having other things going on makes deep work easier, sometimes it makes it harder. I've noticed it's good to test both, and oscillate.
- jasonl99 9y ago
  I think you're right. I run basically the same route every time (varying distances a bit), through a county park that's literally down the same sidewalk where I live. I also listen to the same six or seven songs, changing a few of them every month or two. Most people who know this is my routine think this must be unimaginably boring. But within a couple minutes, I don't even notice, and I'm just letting my mind drift, sometimes to the extent that I've overshot my turnaround spot by more than a mile just from a lack paying attention Having experienced this, I can't imagine now going back to the "old way" where I have random songs that differ every time, or different routes that require me to pay attention. I've often thought the repetitive nature of the same route and the same music actually encourages the metal drift.
  - Kluny 9y ago
    Hmm, interesting point about listening to the same songs every time. I used to have youtube on shuffle as my go-to work music, but eventually a bad song would come on and snap me out of concentration. I found that a few songs and albums worked well for me, and I could just leave them on repeat. "See you again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth is the one I feel weirdest about. It's so cheesy and poppy, and I'll listen to it for hours at a time.
keithpeter 9y ago
Chris Arthur is a good writer for the walking if you liked the literary aspect of the OA. http://www.chrisarthur.org/ http://www.chrisarthur.org/ The Irish Nocturnes essay Meditation on Walking used to be online. Fortunately, the Way Back Machine has it. http://web.archive.org/web/20010413013113/http://www.richmondreview.co.uk:80/library/arthur01.html http://web.archive.org/web/20010413013113/http://www.richmon... [The Richmond Review was a nice early Web based literary magazine]
0xFFC 9y ago
Sorry I didn't have time to read completely, I will read this when I have free time. But I wanted to mention this is completely reverse for me. Over the years I have found my body and mind are complete opposite side of each other. I have to complete stay moveless, and when I stay moveless for awhile that's when my mind will work at its extreme capacity. Moving, Walking, Talking, Writing, everything is kinda distraction from my deepest mind state, and I need that state when I study Math especially the hard/analytical problems. I call that deep state, ZEN. I wish I could be in that state everywhere and every day.
- bootload 9y ago
  "I have to complete stay moveless, and when I stay moveless for awhile that's when my mind will work at its extreme capacity." Two different types of thinking. Focused thinking where all your memory slots are consciously controlled. Un-focused thinking (diffused mode) where random connections between different ideas are made. [0] The unfocused thinking is where you get the ^aha^ moment. So yes I'd reckon every programmer/hacker/scientist/mathematician is pretty much doing what you describe. [0] Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE., "Focused and diffuse modes of thinking- a brief on how it functions" ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzjsk5e7srI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzjsk5e7srI
- repeek 9y ago
  Have you tried a float tank (aka Sensory Deprivation tank)?
3131s 9y ago
For any distance that takes less than 30 minutes, I almost always walk. For longer distances I ride a bike. Typically I'm walking to go exercise, and I find it to be the perfect warmup for that. I also find that it really helps my muscles recover the next day after a workout as well.
yoandy 9y ago
I used to go to Work every day by walking around 2 Km, without doubt it helps a lot to arrive work clear minded and in good mood. I think is even better when you walk in group and you talk to the others.
- posterboy 9y ago
  chances are you were in a good and balanced mood to begin with, because you didn't have to rush and take a quicker alternative. I used to run part of the way to school because I was notoriously late. At the end of the year I aced the gym class mile run, but overall my unreliability caused much concern in other topics. I maintained for a time that exercise is vital for a healthy mind, but because I didn't exercise on purpose, I couldn't take advantage of it.
ivwdbwib 9y ago
I love walking
dmitripopov 9y ago
My physician strongly recommended me to walk at least 10 000 steps every day. I prefer to walk fast and for a long distance, it gives me a really huge productivity boost. However I try not to think about work during my walks, it is more effective for me. When I get back to solving problems after a walk I get an enlightment almost all the time.
- Tenhundfeld 9y ago
  Random question here. How long does it take you to walk 10k steps? I've fallen out of the habit lately, but I was hitting the 10k target for a while. I have a sedentary desk job. So chores and playing with my kid got me up to about 3k. Then I'd walk for an hour during lunch to get another ~7k steps. Walking for an hour every day is fairly substantial commitment. I mean, it felt worth it. As you said, it's a huge productivity boost. I'm probably more productive walking 1 hour and working 7, rather than working a sedentary 8. It's not always easy to make that time in your day though. I added the backstory, because I'm not questioning the value of the habit. I'm just always curious how much time people are devoting to walking when they talk about 10k steps.
  - soreasan 9y ago
    Every mile is roughly 2000 steps depending on how long your stride is. 10K steps is roughly 5 miles. Depending on how fast you walk you're probably looking at around 90 minutes to 120 minutes per day of walking. Of course you could dramatically reduce that time if you ran or jogged rather than walked.
    - Tenhundfeld 9y ago
      Cool, yeah, when I hit 7k in an hour, I'm not exactly speed-walking, but I'm not just ambling along either. I'd describe as walking with a purpose. Jogging or running for very long hurts my knees, likely because I'm overweight. Maybe one day.
  - nroets 9y ago
    Assuming you use 1 meter steps to walk 10km at an average rate of 5km/h, it will take 2 hours. 5km/h is a reasonable pace for someone walking to / from work / school. Assuming you take one step every second (3600 steps per hour), it will take slightly less than 3 hours. One step per second is very leisurely pace.
agentgt 9y ago
For those that want to perhaps burn more calories or for whatever reason want to make it more challenging I recommend rucking. That is take a backpack and put like 35 pounds in it. I highly recommend it.
- coldtea 9y ago
  How does that work for back health? Sounds something that will cause extra strain in an unstructured way.
  - repeek 9y ago
    Rucking is more than dropping a kettlebell in a JanSport -- you will want a rucksack that is designed to properly support a balanced load on your back. I recently picked up a GoRuck GR1 [0] -- it's an amazing bag for everyday use. They also sell weighted ruck plates that fit the rucks and keep the load close to your body. [0] http://www.goruck.com/gr1-explained http://www.goruck.com/gr1-explained
    - astrostl 9y ago
      Had never heard of this. Walk (and podcast) all the time for light exercise. Just ordered a GoRuck GR1, Field Pocket, and 20 LB plate. Thanks!
  - agentgt 9y ago
    As a previous commenter alluded too you need a proper backpack or at least a properly configured backpack. GoRuck is the defacto on this but any bag made of serious nylon with olympic plates and internal PALS MOLLE can work as you can just strap the weight close to your back. The weight needs to be high up on your back and as close to your body as possible (there is some debate on this but in general that is what most people believe). Also I don't have a citing on this but I'm fairly certain most people have back problems not from carrying heavy weight on their back but rather sitting down too much and picking up the weight incorrectly.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
hownottowrite 9y ago
If you like this article you should probably read, Frédéric Gros' A Philosophy of Walking [0]. His book came out in 2014 and inspired a brief flurry of articles focused on the more esoteric effects of taking a stroll. [0] - https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walking https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walkin...
- henrik_w 9y ago
  The link doesn't work (missing a b), but this one does: https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walking https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walkin...
  - hownottowrite 9y ago
    Corrected. Very odd that b went missing - thanks!
    - ycombinete 9y ago
      >missing *Walking
seanalltogether 9y ago
So why does taking a shower help us think? Or driving a car on the highway to work? It has to be more then just getting blood moving?
- Kluny 9y ago
  It's just about leaving room for boredom in your brain. When your mind has nothing else to occupy itself, it cooks something up on the fly.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >It has to be more then just getting blood moving? Why?
  - hueving 9y ago
    Because driving doesn't.
    - merraksh 9y ago
      But driving requires focusing on the road, hence taking neurons away from thinking.
    - coldtea 9y ago
      Driving is still being seated and not doing much (even less so with automatic gears). Not a very active, err, activity, so why would it "get the blood moving" that much? I may state the obvious, but it's about the blood moving inside the body and to the brain and such, not about mere movement of blood, body and all along with the vehicle to some destination.
- gm-conspiracy 9y ago
  Hot showers/sauna do get the blood moving (can be a form of cardio exercise). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049052/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049052/ Not sure about driving...maybe road-rage adrenaline?
- 9y ago
mdevere 9y ago
why are these articles always so pointlessly long. who wants to read all this meandering tangential bullshit when it can be distilled down into two paragraphs at most.
- colmvp 9y ago
  With all due respect, it's important to know your audience. When subscribers read the New Yorker, they usually expect to have lengthy articles. There are plenty of bite sized, 30 second articles available practically everywhere on the internet.
- rshaban 9y ago
  Sounds like you could use a walk :)
jtraffic 9y ago
"our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward" A colleague in my phd program went on the job market this year with research that is related to this, especially to the connection between writing and walking discussed in the final paragraph. In a nutshell, his theory and experimental evidence suggest that we use the same cognitive mechanisms to process real maps as we do abstract maps. In particular, he shows that we often have mental "landmarks." He focuses on number lines as maps, and suggests that the round numbers behave like landmarks. He shows that all of the known cognitive signatures of the way we process landmarks on, say, a road-trip are present for these abstract landmarks. He shows the same thing with textures in the context of anchoring and adjusting (we anchor on an initial texture and use it as a cognitive landmark.) To me, his theory is extremely compelling and explains a lot. It makes sense that our brains, as our environments have become more complex, have adapted to use spatial cognition to process the abstract. EDIT: Here is a link to his CV: http://marketingphdjobs.org/sites/default/files/Gaurav%20Jain_CV.pdf http://marketingphdjobs.org/sites/default/files/Gaurav%20Jai.... The paper I'm talking about is called "Presence of Numerical Landmarks and Their Effects on Judgments." He hasn't posted it on the web, I'll see if I can get a copy from him and post it (if he's ok with me doing so.)
- bujak 9y ago
  Very intersting, could you point me to his research?
- sandbags 9y ago
  I'd also be interested in reading this.
- neom 9y ago
  this is super interesting to me, in my "research" into dyslexia, I find that folks with very high dyslexic traits also happened to be incredibly spatially aware. Coincidently, they also happened to be excellent artists, often in sculpting.
  - jtraffic 9y ago
iplaw 9y ago
Do these benefits translate to other outdoor activities? Jogging, cycling, etc.? I seem to achieve this sort of mental clarity when I'm on an open-ended recovery ride. Training days, however, are probably too regimented and my focus is solely on hitting and/or exceeding the targets set by my coach.
- H1Supreme 9y ago
  I'd say so. A 20 mile ride (and a short nap) is my go-to way to get back into a project I'm stuck on.
visakanv 9y ago
This is part of why I'm very excited for VR. Our system of navigating the web as pages on screens is incredibly limited. Once we can navigate content in space (think video games – you could still drop me anywhere in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and I'd be able to navigate to any other point on the map from memory), we'll open up all sorts of interesting new possibilities.
nemo1618 9y ago
Another possibility: walking is a means of seeding your brain's RNG with new entropy. That would explain why some sedentary activities (like driving to work or fiddling with a toy) can help you think too.
- gnaritas 9y ago
  I don't know if that's at all true, but I sure like that idea.
david927 9y ago
I always thought part of the power of walking was that it was a form of bilateral stimulation, such as found in EMDR therapy.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
adultSwim 9y ago
Highly recommend Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit. In it she explores the intersection between walking and thinking.
kazinator 9y ago
Walking helps us think only if we don't bring any modern distraction such as a mobile device. The main advantage of walking with regard to thinking is that we are away from such things and also away from people. Anyone who wants to get a hold of us to distract our thinking first has to figure out where we are and then track us down on foot. Experience shows that this doesn't happen, unless it's a very, very urgent matter. Walking helps with difficult problems in coding and design. It helps because often when you get a bad idea that doesn't work, and you think it's actually a great idea, you still have twenty minutes left to walk. If you were sitting at the machine, you would be saying, "Eureka!" and coding the bad idea. If you're walking, you'd like to code the idea, but you can't; not yet. So you keep juggling the idea in your mind for the remainder of the walk, by which time you figure out that it was wrong. If you get into a mode where you're just trying ideas to see what works, and in the given situation that approach isn't working well (however well it might work at other times) walking will physically remove you from that and break the pattern.
- betenoire 9y ago
  I bet walking helped humans solve problems long before distracting gadgets existed.
bdamm 9y ago
"A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete." Does this explain why it seems all great cities have large walkable parks near their core downtown areas and near any areas considered to be more livable? It isn't the park, per se, but perhaps the ability to find walkable conduits that can be ambled without concern for bodily harm. When I move to a new place one of the first things I do is locate the longest walkable circuit that does not involve busy intersections where waiting is required.
goodjam 9y ago
I love this friendly jab at Flaubert from Nietzsche “On ne peut penser et écrire qu’assis - One cannot think and write except when seated (G. Flaubert). There I have caught you, nihilist! The sedentary life is the very sin against the Holy Spirit. Only thoughts reached by walking have value.”
Nomentatus 9y ago
Our legs and arms are pumps, as we all learned in high school, with valves in the blood vessels that facilitate that function.

407 points by bootload 9y ago

Great read. Thanks for the link. I often get the same energized writing vibe after a run. Though unlike the article emphasizes near the end, my 5 mile daily run is preplanned (obviously) and so leaves my brain able to effectively "dissociate" and enter that realm of creative thinking that often precedes our falling asleep. After the first couple miles, my body gets into the groove and I'm able to either serenely absorb my surroundings -- the geese and their Spring young, say -- or float around in that gooey reality between daydreaming and acting. Steve Jobs was a particularly notable "hacker type" who enjoyed walks. So besides the article's writer bent, I'd say idle physical activity is a good choice for those who just want to think.

jwdunne 9y ago
Not at all particular to writing. I believe Einstein went on frequent walks too. A walk through a park or a country path would be even better: greenery and nature has shown to boost creativity in some studies.
- hinkley 9y ago
  Greenery boosts mood. Elevated mood makes you more optimistic about your crazy ideas. Some of your crazy ideas aren't so crazy.

bootload 9y ago

". When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messages between them." New neurons. The next line about walking being easy tells me you live in a flat area with no obstacles. "A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete." Uneven ground. I always look for uneven ground. Walking on concrete, man-made paths is the equivalent of looking at brick walls.

femto 9y ago
Maintaining balance on uneven ground also works your lower back and pelvic floor more than on a concrete path. Strengthening these can help if you have back plane (and one could argue that chronic pain is an impediment to thinking).
- kakarot 9y ago
  I'll have to try that, my back plane always takes off at the worst time.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
" The next line about walking being easy tells me you live in a flat area with no obstacles." But it is pretty easy once you get muscle built up and get used to the obstacles. I live in a mountainous area. I climb a fence daily and go over a bit of land with no concrete path - though admittedly everyday walking is on concrete most times. Going out into the countryside doesn't make it any more difficult.
- 24gttghh 9y ago
  I actually find it more difficult to walk on flat concrete than walking on a trail with rocks and roots and leaves. I weave all over the place because there is nothing to keep my attention to where my feet are being planted.
- bootload 9y ago
  "is pretty easy once you get muscle built up and get used to the obstacles." There are hills, and then hills ~ https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/3957949381/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/3957949381/
coldtea 9y ago
>The next line about walking being easy tells me you live in a flat area with no obstacles Unless you live on a mountain-top or near minefields, walking is still very easy compared to most other options except sitting and laying on a bed. And even if you do live in such a place, it's usually pretty trivial to find a non-mountainous/non-obstacled path to walk in the surrounding area. Didn't say it has to be just next to your door.

biztos 9y ago

This may be today's least original comment, but I've recently discovered the magic combination of podcast and treadmill. (I knew them both, separately, for a long time already.) In addition to helping make 30 minutes of sweating go by much faster, I find it almost always generates a bunch of ideas. Like a little brainstorming walk, if you will, but all-weather and easier to schedule. My current favorite podcast for this is the Andreessen Horowitz "a16z podcast." http://a16z.com/podcasts/ http://a16z.com/podcasts/

rahuldracula 9y ago
The a16z podcast would generate a bunch of ideas irrespective of what your feet are doing.
AriaMinaei 9y ago
The combination of (roundtable discussions|debates|audiobooks) with (walking|cleaning house|washing dishes|other chores) is the most productive procrastination technique I have. It changes mental context, stimulates the brain, and makes the chore enjoyable. I even sometimes do it while writing code. Of course, I can't take it all in, but I still find that it enriches my experience.
- agumonkey 9y ago
  I do chores as yoga exercise, never thought of adding podcast to the blend..
  - petra 9y ago
    I work in manufacturing, and sometimes i listen to podcasts, but sometimes i meditate(like tai-chi, attention to body movements) while working. Meditating is harder(and coffee is helpful), but when successful, is much more satisfying.
    - agumonkey 9y ago
      I'm still not sure I approached a meditative state by "meditating". When I play drums I do get into a slight trance / bliss where I kinda become music and my mind shifts off.

RichardHeart 9y ago

Whenever I'm learning things when walking, the location an idea popped into my head is pretty much never forgotten. I'm not sure whether its actually valuable, but it feels like it makes the ideas unforgettable. I'm going to assume the value is real because: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci I think consuming some portion of your subconscious with repetitive activity frees up some blocking on your conscious thought, so that you can stay engaged on an idea for longer. It's like your normal boredom/frustration loop gets muted by the repetitive behavior (music, movies in background, walking, fidgeting, etc.) Sometimes having other things going on makes deep work easier, sometimes it makes it harder. I've noticed it's good to test both, and oscillate.

jasonl99 9y ago
I think you're right. I run basically the same route every time (varying distances a bit), through a county park that's literally down the same sidewalk where I live. I also listen to the same six or seven songs, changing a few of them every month or two. Most people who know this is my routine think this must be unimaginably boring. But within a couple minutes, I don't even notice, and I'm just letting my mind drift, sometimes to the extent that I've overshot my turnaround spot by more than a mile just from a lack paying attention Having experienced this, I can't imagine now going back to the "old way" where I have random songs that differ every time, or different routes that require me to pay attention. I've often thought the repetitive nature of the same route and the same music actually encourages the metal drift.
- Kluny 9y ago
  Hmm, interesting point about listening to the same songs every time. I used to have youtube on shuffle as my go-to work music, but eventually a bad song would come on and snap me out of concentration. I found that a few songs and albums worked well for me, and I could just leave them on repeat. "See you again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth is the one I feel weirdest about. It's so cheesy and poppy, and I'll listen to it for hours at a time.

keithpeter 9y ago

Chris Arthur is a good writer for the walking if you liked the literary aspect of the OA. http://www.chrisarthur.org/ http://www.chrisarthur.org/ The Irish Nocturnes essay Meditation on Walking used to be online. Fortunately, the Way Back Machine has it. http://web.archive.org/web/20010413013113/http://www.richmondreview.co.uk:80/library/arthur01.html http://web.archive.org/web/20010413013113/http://www.richmon... [The Richmond Review was a nice early Web based literary magazine]

0xFFC 9y ago

Sorry I didn't have time to read completely, I will read this when I have free time. But I wanted to mention this is completely reverse for me. Over the years I have found my body and mind are complete opposite side of each other. I have to complete stay moveless, and when I stay moveless for awhile that's when my mind will work at its extreme capacity. Moving, Walking, Talking, Writing, everything is kinda distraction from my deepest mind state, and I need that state when I study Math especially the hard/analytical problems. I call that deep state, ZEN. I wish I could be in that state everywhere and every day.

bootload 9y ago
"I have to complete stay moveless, and when I stay moveless for awhile that's when my mind will work at its extreme capacity." Two different types of thinking. Focused thinking where all your memory slots are consciously controlled. Un-focused thinking (diffused mode) where random connections between different ideas are made. [0] The unfocused thinking is where you get the ^aha^ moment. So yes I'd reckon every programmer/hacker/scientist/mathematician is pretty much doing what you describe. [0] Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE., "Focused and diffuse modes of thinking- a brief on how it functions" ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzjsk5e7srI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzjsk5e7srI
repeek 9y ago
Have you tried a float tank (aka Sensory Deprivation tank)?

3131s 9y ago

For any distance that takes less than 30 minutes, I almost always walk. For longer distances I ride a bike. Typically I'm walking to go exercise, and I find it to be the perfect warmup for that. I also find that it really helps my muscles recover the next day after a workout as well.

yoandy 9y ago

I used to go to Work every day by walking around 2 Km, without doubt it helps a lot to arrive work clear minded and in good mood. I think is even better when you walk in group and you talk to the others.

posterboy 9y ago
chances are you were in a good and balanced mood to begin with, because you didn't have to rush and take a quicker alternative. I used to run part of the way to school because I was notoriously late. At the end of the year I aced the gym class mile run, but overall my unreliability caused much concern in other topics. I maintained for a time that exercise is vital for a healthy mind, but because I didn't exercise on purpose, I couldn't take advantage of it.

ivwdbwib 9y ago

I love walking

dmitripopov 9y ago

My physician strongly recommended me to walk at least 10 000 steps every day. I prefer to walk fast and for a long distance, it gives me a really huge productivity boost. However I try not to think about work during my walks, it is more effective for me. When I get back to solving problems after a walk I get an enlightment almost all the time.

Tenhundfeld 9y ago
Random question here. How long does it take you to walk 10k steps? I've fallen out of the habit lately, but I was hitting the 10k target for a while. I have a sedentary desk job. So chores and playing with my kid got me up to about 3k. Then I'd walk for an hour during lunch to get another ~7k steps. Walking for an hour every day is fairly substantial commitment. I mean, it felt worth it. As you said, it's a huge productivity boost. I'm probably more productive walking 1 hour and working 7, rather than working a sedentary 8. It's not always easy to make that time in your day though. I added the backstory, because I'm not questioning the value of the habit. I'm just always curious how much time people are devoting to walking when they talk about 10k steps.
- soreasan 9y ago
  Every mile is roughly 2000 steps depending on how long your stride is. 10K steps is roughly 5 miles. Depending on how fast you walk you're probably looking at around 90 minutes to 120 minutes per day of walking. Of course you could dramatically reduce that time if you ran or jogged rather than walked.
  - Tenhundfeld 9y ago
    Cool, yeah, when I hit 7k in an hour, I'm not exactly speed-walking, but I'm not just ambling along either. I'd describe as walking with a purpose. Jogging or running for very long hurts my knees, likely because I'm overweight. Maybe one day.
- nroets 9y ago
  Assuming you use 1 meter steps to walk 10km at an average rate of 5km/h, it will take 2 hours. 5km/h is a reasonable pace for someone walking to / from work / school. Assuming you take one step every second (3600 steps per hour), it will take slightly less than 3 hours. One step per second is very leisurely pace.

agentgt 9y ago

For those that want to perhaps burn more calories or for whatever reason want to make it more challenging I recommend rucking. That is take a backpack and put like 35 pounds in it. I highly recommend it.

coldtea 9y ago
How does that work for back health? Sounds something that will cause extra strain in an unstructured way.
- repeek 9y ago
  Rucking is more than dropping a kettlebell in a JanSport -- you will want a rucksack that is designed to properly support a balanced load on your back. I recently picked up a GoRuck GR1 [0] -- it's an amazing bag for everyday use. They also sell weighted ruck plates that fit the rucks and keep the load close to your body. [0] http://www.goruck.com/gr1-explained http://www.goruck.com/gr1-explained
  - astrostl 9y ago
    Had never heard of this. Walk (and podcast) all the time for light exercise. Just ordered a GoRuck GR1, Field Pocket, and 20 LB plate. Thanks!
- agentgt 9y ago
  As a previous commenter alluded too you need a proper backpack or at least a properly configured backpack. GoRuck is the defacto on this but any bag made of serious nylon with olympic plates and internal PALS MOLLE can work as you can just strap the weight close to your back. The weight needs to be high up on your back and as close to your body as possible (there is some debate on this but in general that is what most people believe). Also I don't have a citing on this but I'm fairly certain most people have back problems not from carrying heavy weight on their back but rather sitting down too much and picking up the weight incorrectly.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

hownottowrite 9y ago

If you like this article you should probably read, Frédéric Gros' A Philosophy of Walking [0]. His book came out in 2014 and inspired a brief flurry of articles focused on the more esoteric effects of taking a stroll. [0] - https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walking https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walkin...

henrik_w 9y ago
The link doesn't work (missing a b), but this one does: https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walking https://www.versobooks.com/books/1865-a-philosophy-of-walkin...
- hownottowrite 9y ago
  Corrected. Very odd that b went missing - thanks!
  - ycombinete 9y ago
    >missing *Walking

seanalltogether 9y ago

So why does taking a shower help us think? Or driving a car on the highway to work? It has to be more then just getting blood moving?

Kluny 9y ago
It's just about leaving room for boredom in your brain. When your mind has nothing else to occupy itself, it cooks something up on the fly.
coldtea 9y ago
>It has to be more then just getting blood moving? Why?
- hueving 9y ago
  Because driving doesn't.
  - merraksh 9y ago
    But driving requires focusing on the road, hence taking neurons away from thinking.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    Driving is still being seated and not doing much (even less so with automatic gears). Not a very active, err, activity, so why would it "get the blood moving" that much? I may state the obvious, but it's about the blood moving inside the body and to the brain and such, not about mere movement of blood, body and all along with the vehicle to some destination.
gm-conspiracy 9y ago
Hot showers/sauna do get the blood moving (can be a form of cardio exercise). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049052/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049052/ Not sure about driving...maybe road-rage adrenaline?
9y ago

mdevere 9y ago

why are these articles always so pointlessly long. who wants to read all this meandering tangential bullshit when it can be distilled down into two paragraphs at most.

colmvp 9y ago
With all due respect, it's important to know your audience. When subscribers read the New Yorker, they usually expect to have lengthy articles. There are plenty of bite sized, 30 second articles available practically everywhere on the internet.
rshaban 9y ago
Sounds like you could use a walk :)

jtraffic 9y ago

"our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward" A colleague in my phd program went on the job market this year with research that is related to this, especially to the connection between writing and walking discussed in the final paragraph. In a nutshell, his theory and experimental evidence suggest that we use the same cognitive mechanisms to process real maps as we do abstract maps. In particular, he shows that we often have mental "landmarks." He focuses on number lines as maps, and suggests that the round numbers behave like landmarks. He shows that all of the known cognitive signatures of the way we process landmarks on, say, a road-trip are present for these abstract landmarks. He shows the same thing with textures in the context of anchoring and adjusting (we anchor on an initial texture and use it as a cognitive landmark.) To me, his theory is extremely compelling and explains a lot. It makes sense that our brains, as our environments have become more complex, have adapted to use spatial cognition to process the abstract. EDIT: Here is a link to his CV: http://marketingphdjobs.org/sites/default/files/Gaurav%20Jain_CV.pdf http://marketingphdjobs.org/sites/default/files/Gaurav%20Jai.... The paper I'm talking about is called "Presence of Numerical Landmarks and Their Effects on Judgments." He hasn't posted it on the web, I'll see if I can get a copy from him and post it (if he's ok with me doing so.)

bujak 9y ago
Very intersting, could you point me to his research?
sandbags 9y ago
I'd also be interested in reading this.
neom 9y ago
this is super interesting to me, in my "research" into dyslexia, I find that folks with very high dyslexic traits also happened to be incredibly spatially aware. Coincidently, they also happened to be excellent artists, often in sculpting.
- jtraffic 9y ago

iplaw 9y ago

Do these benefits translate to other outdoor activities? Jogging, cycling, etc.? I seem to achieve this sort of mental clarity when I'm on an open-ended recovery ride. Training days, however, are probably too regimented and my focus is solely on hitting and/or exceeding the targets set by my coach.

H1Supreme 9y ago
I'd say so. A 20 mile ride (and a short nap) is my go-to way to get back into a project I'm stuck on.

visakanv 9y ago

This is part of why I'm very excited for VR. Our system of navigating the web as pages on screens is incredibly limited. Once we can navigate content in space (think video games – you could still drop me anywhere in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and I'd be able to navigate to any other point on the map from memory), we'll open up all sorts of interesting new possibilities.

nemo1618 9y ago

Another possibility: walking is a means of seeding your brain's RNG with new entropy. That would explain why some sedentary activities (like driving to work or fiddling with a toy) can help you think too.

gnaritas 9y ago
I don't know if that's at all true, but I sure like that idea.

david927 9y ago

I always thought part of the power of walking was that it was a form of bilateral stimulation, such as found in EMDR therapy.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

adultSwim 9y ago

Highly recommend Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit. In it she explores the intersection between walking and thinking.

kazinator 9y ago

Walking helps us think only if we don't bring any modern distraction such as a mobile device. The main advantage of walking with regard to thinking is that we are away from such things and also away from people. Anyone who wants to get a hold of us to distract our thinking first has to figure out where we are and then track us down on foot. Experience shows that this doesn't happen, unless it's a very, very urgent matter. Walking helps with difficult problems in coding and design. It helps because often when you get a bad idea that doesn't work, and you think it's actually a great idea, you still have twenty minutes left to walk. If you were sitting at the machine, you would be saying, "Eureka!" and coding the bad idea. If you're walking, you'd like to code the idea, but you can't; not yet. So you keep juggling the idea in your mind for the remainder of the walk, by which time you figure out that it was wrong. If you get into a mode where you're just trying ideas to see what works, and in the given situation that approach isn't working well (however well it might work at other times) walking will physically remove you from that and break the pattern.

betenoire 9y ago
I bet walking helped humans solve problems long before distracting gadgets existed.

bdamm 9y ago

"A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete." Does this explain why it seems all great cities have large walkable parks near their core downtown areas and near any areas considered to be more livable? It isn't the park, per se, but perhaps the ability to find walkable conduits that can be ambled without concern for bodily harm. When I move to a new place one of the first things I do is locate the longest walkable circuit that does not involve busy intersections where waiting is required.

goodjam 9y ago

I love this friendly jab at Flaubert from Nietzsche “On ne peut penser et écrire qu’assis - One cannot think and write except when seated (G. Flaubert). There I have caught you, nihilist! The sedentary life is the very sin against the Holy Spirit. Only thoughts reached by walking have value.”

Nomentatus 9y ago

Our legs and arms are pumps, as we all learned in high school, with valves in the blood vessels that facilitate that function.