10 ms·

Stanford study finds walking improves creativity

249 points by veesahni 12y ago

joshuaheard 12y ago
I find I get creative ideas while driving home from work and while taking a shower. It's something about putting the clutch in on the mind while doing a rote task that releases the creative thought.
- noobermin 12y ago
  There once was a graduate level electrodynamics homework assignment that I waited* until 5-6 hours before the due time to start (it was due at 11:59 PM). An hour until, I found it so difficult that I gave up and decided to turn it in late. So, I left the physics building and walked to a 24 hour coffee shop for coffee, and as I walked, I thought about a particular problem, flipping the system around in my head. I then came across the solution midwalk. Of course, at that point, it was too late to finish it and submit it on time, but it shows how taking time to step back and relax can be conducive to thought as opposed to sharp focus. I find that focus is important when I already know what to do (I just have to just code it or I have to just calculate it) as opposed to _figuring_out_ what to do. *I didn't wait until then out of negligence, I had enrolled in too many classes last semester and it became close to what I could handle.
anishkothari 12y ago
I've always had a feeling about this and have always tried to fit a walk or a trip up/down the stairs after lunch. Walking is also a great walk to clear the mind after a long day of work or even after an intense discussion/argument, sort of like resetting your brain.
bane 12y ago
It music circles, there's a rumor that Bach used to do most of his brain storming while walking. There may be something to it, he was one of the most prolific creatives in history and a great many of his works are played at a "walking tempo".
- keithpeter 12y ago
  Beethoven used small musical manuscript books to record brief sketches or musical ideas. I'm wondering if he wandered...
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
dang 12y ago
Solvitur ambulando! One of the best ways to work on software problems: design by walking around.
- ChrisGaudreau 12y ago
  It actually does work wonders. If I have a really difficult design problem, I'll take an hour walk on the trail and have it solved by the time I get home.
- Terr_ 12y ago
  > by walking around The first thing that came to mind for me was "Management By Walking Around", but I think that could easily be misapplied: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1993-01-16/ http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1993-01-16/
  - dang 12y ago
    Now that you mention it, I bet I did have that phrase unconsciously in mind—not from Dilbert, but from the history of HP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around
- atmosx 12y ago
  For me sleeping on a problem works too. Some times when I'm obsessed with something, it seems like my mind goes to work while I'm sleeping. I wake up and find myself with two or three different ways to approach the problem.
  - keithpeter 12y ago
    Track down a copy of An essay on the psychology of invention in the mathematical field by Jacques Hadamard. Hadamard was a mathematician, and he used 'introspection' to explore the springs of his own creativity and those of colleagues he interviewed. The results are entertaining in a quaint sort of way, but your experience is not unusual at all in the mathematical world.
almosnow 12y ago
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. Friedrich Nietzsche
MCarusi 12y ago
What about running? I have to be the most creative person alive.
- brianwawok 12y ago
  I often have coding breakthroughs while on a run. Other reply is right though, I have these during my easy runs. I do not have coding breakthroughs during intervals or insane fast runs.
- dgallagher 12y ago
  Anecdotical (10+ years running experience). I've found that jogging at slow speeds (~6 MPH) has a similar effect creatively on me as walking does (2-4 MPH). Running at medium speeds (~8 MPH), I still notice an increase in creativity as long as I have enough energy in me, but it's a bit reduced than jogging. Running at high speeds (10+ MPH), things are so intense that my mind can only focus on breathing, running, and mind tricks to keep going, so creative thinking goes right out the door. It would be interesting to see a scientific study done on it.
  - epaladin 12y ago
    I wonder how this plays out in terms of long-term benefits. There's an established association between exercise and increased BDNF, but I don't think there's been any investigation as to if that effect is modulated by exercise intensity or longer than average duration. I'd like to get a (passive) treadmill desk at some point for these reasons. I don't think I've ever found myself to be particularly creative on runs. I think I treat it too seriously, and when I'm not too serious, then I'm trying to be meditative with it or listening to nature. Interesting to hear other people's experiences.
loceng 12y ago
I would link this to the relatively recent research that connected lactic acid, which is created with muscle use, acting as a neurotransmitter that works on motivational systems in the brain. You need motivation to be and maintain creativity. I am sure there are other factors here at play like using the body grounds oneself, pulls you out of your mind, and will allow you to "pull away" from certain stories - or pathways - that you've been deeply reenforcing by maintaining your focus on them.
- adamnemecek 12y ago
  Do you happen to have a link? EDIT: I guess this is it http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uob-nrs021014.php http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uob-nrs021014...
- xux 12y ago
  Honestly, I think it's much more simpler than that. Walking is an alone activity, and almost forces your mind to wander with no goal in sight. Plus, the rhythmic stepping is almost like meditation.
  - loceng 12y ago
    When you use your body it interrupts certain depths of thinking some. So if you're in deep thought or stuck there, it will pull you out of those crevices. Movement basically helps break up thought, I feel especially when it's bilateral movement.
eyeareque 12y ago
I also find that caffeine boosts my creativity. I rarely drink it, but when I do I become super motivated and inspired to carry out new ideas.
- w1ntermute 12y ago
  Same here. I save it for when I really need it, and the effect it has is always remarkable.
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    I feel like an outlier. I regularly consume 400-600mg of caffeine per day, evening it out with 800-1200mg of l-theanine.
- orky56 12y ago
  That's interesting. Research has shown that alcohol increases creativity while caffeine increases efficiency. Alcohol is better for reducing inhibitions and thinking outside the box whereas caffeine temporarily increases blood flow thereby allowing you to more quickly breeze through permutations around decision making.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
pertinhower 12y ago
Cf. http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-out-of-control/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-ou...
jonemo 12y ago
It obviously matters what you compare it to. This study compares walking to sitting. No claims about standing, running, cycling, skydiving.
- ScottBurson 12y ago
  I agree, they should have tried standing. I have never found that running or cycling worked nearly as well as walking. You can't lose yourself in thought in those activities -- too much alertness is required. Maybe a slow jog, or very slow bike ride, on a very smooth trail with no traffic of any kind would work, I don't know. But in general I haven't found these conducive. What has worked very well for me, though, is 15 minutes of vigorous running followed by 60 - 90 minutes of walking.
- epaladin 12y ago
  We could ask Sergei Brin about the effectiveness of brainstorming while skydiving.
briantakita 12y ago
I like to pace around my place & I get into a zen state of mind. Creative & holistic thoughts emerge from the subconscious. It's one of the perks of working from home.
3rd3 12y ago
What about sitting vs. running and sitting vs. cycling? Would listening to a podcast prevent the effect?
- marcosdumay 12y ago
  Well, from my anecdotal experience, running and cycling don't help (but running a bit will make walking later more powerful, and cycling very slowly can help). And yes, a podcast would prevent the effect. Anyway, make your own opinion. It's a huge effect, you'll perceive it if you try. It's so big an effect that it's on folklore for as long as people started documenting such things.
RivieraKid 12y ago
I do it a lot when programming. My ideal work environment would be an office in / near a forest and being able to take a walk to the forest whenever I feel the need to.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- TillE 12y ago
  I live a couple hundred meters away from a large park. Not quite the same thing if you really want solitude, but still very nice for taking breaks and thinking.
- briantakita 12y ago
  If you are a remote worker, you can pick your location.
- VLM 12y ago
  Get a programming job in the burbs. Yeah I know not very trendy, but you gotta live for yourself first and others later. Both my first and second real job were in suburban office parks with massive forest stands around the buildings to separate them, duck ponds, etc. Both formal garden-ish areas and informal trail areas. My third job (also suburban) was kitty corner to a city park full of picnic tables and wooded walking trails. Currently I'm in a very extremely urban location, no place to park, loud heavy traffic, nothing green for a couple miles unless its a hyper manicured lawn covered in blowing garbage or a potted plant, panhandlers all over, garbage everywhere, super high crime (relatively). Other than that, its a good job, but I miss working in better more civilized environments.
  - RivieraKid 12y ago
    If I would ever start a business, I'd love to create a work environment like this, the problem is, that the employees would have to spend more time and money travelling to work...
snewman 12y ago
Another great thing about "walking around with a problem" is that it forces you to think before acting -- since you can't act until you get back to your desk. You know those moments when you're in the thick of coding, and you suddenly realize that one detail which you had thought would be easy, is in fact going to force you to rip up a bunch of code? I make it a rule, at that moment, to stand up and go for a walk. Often, by the time I get back, I've found a better solution.
- trentmb 12y ago
  > you suddenly realize that one detail which you had thought would be easy, is in fact going to force you to rip up a bunch of code? I make it a rule, at that moment, to stand up and go for a walk. I've found sobbing uncontrollably helps too.
- izendejas 12y ago
  This is why I like drinking water a lot. It forces me to get up away from my desk to fill my glass, and then to go to the bathroom. I've had lots of cases where I found better solutions in front of a urinal (forgive the imagery) than in front of a monitor because I felt like I eliminated a lot of irrelevant data that helped me see more clearly what the better solution was.
- huherto 12y ago
  A big bonus is that it keeps you away from HN, reddit et al.
  - hnriot 12y ago
    not necessarily, said walking reading hn on my phone.
  - stronglikedan 12y ago
    Oh, really? -- posted from my smartphone
- ef47d35620c1 12y ago
  I very much agree. When that happens to me, it's usually because I'm thinking about the issue in the wrong way because of how I have read (or perceived) the code and how I think the code should be. Wrong notions, assumptions, etc. Getting away from the code, allows me to carefully focus only on the problem. Then things become clear.
orky56 12y ago
"Thinking on your feet" allows you to not only be creative but also to be spontaneous so you can also apply new ideas in context. I'd be curious to know the optimal amount of walking needed/the inflection point at which there are marginal returns.
seanmcdirmid 12y ago
In an extremely perverse way, this is why smoking "feels" like it helps creativity. All of the same mechanisms and benefits apply as walking + a bit of stimulation via nicotine. Of course, the health hazards make this a crappy technique, and it would be healthier just to go out for a stroll. But this boost is definitely a part of the addiction (among other things), which makes the habit that much harder to kick once started among creative types (they feel like they are losing more than just the nicotine).
- tunap 12y ago
  Not just lose the nicotine, I would lose my mind or would need to take a pharmaceutical...better, right? I quit for seven months and not a second of the day or night was I not jonesing for nicotine. I am an addict, my mom quit 20 years ago and got breast cancer last year, my 93yo grandfather is one & his deceased 92yo father was one(neither ever stepped foot in a hospital). Our genes seem to abide the smoking, the other things we all have in common is we never stop moving...well except for great grampa that one fateful day he never got up to fill his pipe. If I too last until I'm 90, yay! If not, so what? Nobody gets out alive & I'm going to live well until the end. The 7 billion of the rest of you will have to go on without me. Try to be strong. Oh yeah, TFA: The pedometer on my phone tells me I walk 2.5+ miles a day... while smoking. My uncle was director of IT for Fortune 20 corp and does the same thing, he swears it is 'his process'. I concur, however, YMMV.
  - dsuth 12y ago
    Having seen a few people spend their (rapidly failing) final years with emphysema and related health complications due to smoking... I can't say that you'll live well to the end necessarily. I hope you avoid that fate, random internet stranger, but there are ways to improve your chances...
    - tunap 12y ago
      As I said in 1st post, I mitigate my risks as well as I know how. Check my 2nd rant above. Also, my step-father died a short battle with Endocratic cancer in 2012 @ 63yo. He smoked on tour in Nam for < 2years. 42 years later his death was attributed to 'tobacco', "Probably". The certificate actually had a check box for 'probably'. Ignore, if you will, the agent orange, forget the smog, forget the crap he ate and his voluminous waistband or the fact that he sat in his chair for 8+hours a day after work and definitely forget the lacquers & paints he inhaled as a gifted cabinet maker for decades. It was the tobacco that killed him, says so on his death certificate.
Shivetya 12y ago
Playing the "social butterfly" at work has been my cover, I swear. Still, I do two heart walks weather permitting each day spaced out while at work, these are quarter mile walks across the parking deck and back. Combine that with my visits which themselves spark my thoughts and I can see how just changing your surroundings wakes up parts of your mind.
Mz 12y ago
I am wondering how much this is related to oxygenating the brain better. I can't readily find a supporting link, but my understanding is you breathe best while walking (and I do a lot of walking these days -- I am supposed to have serious lung issues and mostly do not anymore).
darshanman40 12y ago
ya Science bitch!
twowo 12y ago
What is interesting about this research is that, unlike in many psychological papers, the effect sizes are relatively large. That means that this research may actually have some practical consequences. Although the authors do not report effect sizes directly it seems that, in many cases, walking shifted the distribution at least one standard deviation in a direction of higher creativity (that is a lot). At the same time I wish the results were reported better, in many cases they do not even report the mean and standard deviation of different experimental groups.
wturner 12y ago
It seems like there is a less empirically measurable thing happening where a displaced sense of 'going somewhere' when walking gets pushed onto a different point of focus ( a creative project , problem , etc )
KVFinn 12y ago
Anecdotally, walking outside in a city or forest seems to work better for me than a treadmill, though this study seems to indicate it shouldn't make a difference. Lots of confounders there I suppose. Maybe specifically for creativity there's no difference but other things (mood etc) benefit from getting outside.
- ritchiea 12y ago
  My guess is that walking around a city or a forest is more helpful to creativity because of the gradual change in environment. And there is a lot of evidence environment has significant effects on thinking and behavior. Other studies have found high ceilings are good for creativity while low ceilings have a negative effect on creativity. I would imagine walking outside without any ceiling would be as good or better than a space with high ceilings.
  - rsl7 12y ago
    I think it has more to do with engaging all your senses with the complexity of a natural environment. Many layers of sound, sight, smell, touch that are supressed indoors.
- brc 12y ago
  I would find walking in a city to be a barrier to creativity. You have to keep engaging your concious, safety brain to deal with other pedestrians, road crossings and immunize your brain from all the advertising and noise that is trying to penetrate. The ideal walking for me is somewhere outside with fresh air, but without constant interruptions to the flow of walking and thinking. Ideally you want to be able to walk alone, but in a type of daydream where you're thinking about the problem at hand instead of spending many cycles on the process of walking. That means covering a well known route with few interruptions. Luckily for me I have access to this type of environment right near my front door. But for those who don't, a treadmill could offer a similar experience, but I suspect the treadmill needs to be a good space (light, airy room, nice outlook from a window).
- VLM 12y ago
  A good experiment would be trying an urban track, like you'd see stereotypically at a high school or some parks. Then you'd have the extreme artificial urbanism, yet also have the lazy "just walk the path no interruptions" of a trail. I also walk at lunch time, also whenever shifting gears during the day, and hike on the weekends on trails, and I don't find a huge difference.
mcintyre1994 12y ago
Everybody should get a dog for this reason. I'm a student and I find I'm much more creative when I'm visiting home, either because I'm meant to be revising or because I can walk the dog.. I like to think the latter :)
marze 12y ago
Steve Jobs was known to meet one-on-one with people, with the meeting taking the form of a walk.
joshlegs 12y ago
holy crap this is awesome. i remember when i was a reporter and i had writers block, i'd go walking around the block a bit. I'd always come back with an idea of where I wanted to take the story next. It's nice to see my 'home remedy' validated.
tn13 12y ago
I have found this true and honestly I have found it true even while driving over long distances at reasonable speed.
kwyjibo1230 12y ago
Just a thought about this. I wonder if the improved creative thinking has anything to do with increased heart bpm and blood flow to the brain that is stimulated by walking or other exercise. I noticed the article said "creative juices continued to flow even when a person sat back down shortly after a walk." Perhaps this could be because after a short while a person's heart rate will go back to resting bpm, and the brain blood flow will return to resting state levels. No hard evidence on my part to back this up, just a thought.
- VLM 12y ago
  You're probably on to an interesting idea. Another topic to google for is blood sugar and insulin levels immediately after exercising. I once worked with a type-2 and a type-1 diabetic (not the same guy obviously) and as you'd expect with a control loop malfunction illness, both predictable and unpredictable effects were in play. If I recall correctly the type-2 guy complained that his innards would release lots of glucose while exercising and continue shortly after but his insulin production (or response?) was not so good, so his blood sugar measurably spiked high after exercise while the type-1 had his drop unless he adjusted his dosages. Or perhaps it was the other way around wrt the type 1 guy and the type 2 guy. Being a spectrum disease, I suspect even a "healthy" individual might have some peculiar short term changes to blood sugar and/or insulin levels.
eslaught 12y ago
Paper: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf Abstract: > Four experiments demonstrate that walking boosts creative ideation in real time and shortly after. In Experiment 1, while seated and then when walking on a treadmill, adults completed Guilford’s alternate uses (GAU) test of creative divergent thinking and the compound remote associates (CRA) test of convergent thinking. Walking increased 81% of participants’ creativity on the GAU, but only increased 23% of participants’ scores for the CRA. In Experiment 2, participants completed the GAU when seated and then walking, when walking and then seated, or when seated twice. Again, walking led to higher GAU scores. Moreover, when seated after walking, participants exhibited a residual creative boost. Experiment 3 generalized the prior effects to outdoor walking. Experiment 4 tested the effect of walking on creative analogy generation. Participants sat inside, walked on a treadmill inside, walked outside, or were rolled outside in a wheelchair. Walking outside produced the most novel and highest quality analogies. The effects of outdoor stimulation and walking were separable. Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.
thrownaway2424 12y ago
The further away my keyboard is, the better the code will be when I finally get there and start typing.
atmosx 12y ago
Hm, do we need a study for that? IMHO goes without saying. It's a very well known technique in management when you have to make an important decision. To take a 30-40 minutes walk and concentrate on the issue, review your initial assumptions etc. I've heard it more than once from different management coaches. Of course it boosts creativity too.
dmourati 12y ago
Walking also makes you happier. http://www.fastcompany.com/3025957/work-smart/what-happens-to-our-brains-when-we-exercise-and-how-it-makes-us-happier http://www.fastcompany.com/3025957/work-smart/what-happens-t...
atmosx 12y ago
I have another question, when you take these walks guys, do you take an mp3 device with you?
joyofdata 12y ago
I found this before Stanford found it ... during my math studies I was all the time walking up and down between the shelves of the library :) In addition to walking around I highly recommend talking to yourself and gesticulating! Looks weird but it works.
return0 12y ago
When i work at home i often find myself walking frantically all around the apartment. Now i know why.
pepijndevos 12y ago
I can't believe they refer to Steve Jobs as a primary example, while this practice dates back to at least the ancient Greek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school
- gansai 12y ago
  Creativity or innovation - the icon for these two words is Steve Jobs, atleast in our contemporary. That's why I guess he was chosen as a primary example, so the audience would easily gel with the context of the study.
lingoberry 12y ago
For me, it's work meetings. Whenever I'm in a meeting and something non-technical is being discussed my minds starts to wander, usually thinking about algorithms. This is quite dangerous in case you get called out on it, but I just can't help it.
darkhorn 12y ago
Improves 0.004%.
mark_l_watson 12y ago
I don't see how this is even news, based on a lifetime of experiences. I have always favored walking meetings when just two or three people are involved. I write a lot, in addition to coding, and taking walks on the trails behind our house (I live on the edge of national forest) is a daily practice. I like to think about problems, what to write about, etc.
- epaladin 12y ago
  Do you have any strategies for remembering what you come up with while you're out? Too many times I feel like I've had a great idea when I'm walking or hiking, only to sit down later and have no idea what it was. Or to not be able to access it in quite the same way.
- aspidistra 12y ago
  > I don't see how this is even news, based on a lifetime of experiences. Like the article says: "Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking. We finally may be taking a step, or two, toward discovering why." It's news because it's a scientific study into how walking makes people more creative, not whether. And it what ways: note how the study suggested that walking was better for some situations ("creative brainstorming") than others ("focused thinking").
- dagw 12y ago
  I don't see how this is even news, based on a lifetime of experiences Lots of people have a lifetime of experience to support that faith healing, astrology or homeopathic medicine works. Should we take their claims at face value as well or should we try to test them scientifically in a controlled manner? For what it's worth I also love to walk and find that it helps my thinking, but I'm also willing to accept that anecdotes, personal or otherwise, aren't evidence of anything.
giantrobothead 12y ago
Any act that gets you away from work for a while and allows your mind to wander is ultimately helpful. A long shower, a long walk, a long drive, interstitial spaces that give you time to think are invaluable. I used to drive for about an hour to get to my former place of work, and I had time to think about things, whether they were related to a problem I was trying to solve or what haqppened to be on the radio at the time or the meanderings that usually lead to new ideas. While the job became increasingly unpleasant, I did enjoy those drives. Acting on those ideas is key though, if you generate all these great ideas while you're on a constitutional but never do anything with them, how does that help your creative output?
JamilD 12y ago
I love the lack of distractions that comes with walking. You have nothing except your own thoughts and ideas; nothing to implement them with. Nothing to detract you from your own unmitigated thoughts.

249 points by veesahni 12y ago

I find I get creative ideas while driving home from work and while taking a shower. It's something about putting the clutch in on the mind while doing a rote task that releases the creative thought.

noobermin 12y ago
There once was a graduate level electrodynamics homework assignment that I waited* until 5-6 hours before the due time to start (it was due at 11:59 PM). An hour until, I found it so difficult that I gave up and decided to turn it in late. So, I left the physics building and walked to a 24 hour coffee shop for coffee, and as I walked, I thought about a particular problem, flipping the system around in my head. I then came across the solution midwalk. Of course, at that point, it was too late to finish it and submit it on time, but it shows how taking time to step back and relax can be conducive to thought as opposed to sharp focus. I find that focus is important when I already know what to do (I just have to just code it or I have to just calculate it) as opposed to _figuring_out_ what to do. *I didn't wait until then out of negligence, I had enrolled in too many classes last semester and it became close to what I could handle.

anishkothari 12y ago

I've always had a feeling about this and have always tried to fit a walk or a trip up/down the stairs after lunch. Walking is also a great walk to clear the mind after a long day of work or even after an intense discussion/argument, sort of like resetting your brain.

bane 12y ago

It music circles, there's a rumor that Bach used to do most of his brain storming while walking. There may be something to it, he was one of the most prolific creatives in history and a great many of his works are played at a "walking tempo".

keithpeter 12y ago
Beethoven used small musical manuscript books to record brief sketches or musical ideas. I'm wondering if he wandered...

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

dang 12y ago

Solvitur ambulando! One of the best ways to work on software problems: design by walking around.

ChrisGaudreau 12y ago
It actually does work wonders. If I have a really difficult design problem, I'll take an hour walk on the trail and have it solved by the time I get home.
Terr_ 12y ago
> by walking around The first thing that came to mind for me was "Management By Walking Around", but I think that could easily be misapplied: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1993-01-16/ http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1993-01-16/
- dang 12y ago
  Now that you mention it, I bet I did have that phrase unconsciously in mind—not from Dilbert, but from the history of HP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around
atmosx 12y ago
For me sleeping on a problem works too. Some times when I'm obsessed with something, it seems like my mind goes to work while I'm sleeping. I wake up and find myself with two or three different ways to approach the problem.
- keithpeter 12y ago
  Track down a copy of An essay on the psychology of invention in the mathematical field by Jacques Hadamard. Hadamard was a mathematician, and he used 'introspection' to explore the springs of his own creativity and those of colleagues he interviewed. The results are entertaining in a quaint sort of way, but your experience is not unusual at all in the mathematical world.

almosnow 12y ago

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. Friedrich Nietzsche

MCarusi 12y ago

What about running? I have to be the most creative person alive.

brianwawok 12y ago
I often have coding breakthroughs while on a run. Other reply is right though, I have these during my easy runs. I do not have coding breakthroughs during intervals or insane fast runs.
dgallagher 12y ago
Anecdotical (10+ years running experience). I've found that jogging at slow speeds (~6 MPH) has a similar effect creatively on me as walking does (2-4 MPH). Running at medium speeds (~8 MPH), I still notice an increase in creativity as long as I have enough energy in me, but it's a bit reduced than jogging. Running at high speeds (10+ MPH), things are so intense that my mind can only focus on breathing, running, and mind tricks to keep going, so creative thinking goes right out the door. It would be interesting to see a scientific study done on it.
- epaladin 12y ago
  I wonder how this plays out in terms of long-term benefits. There's an established association between exercise and increased BDNF, but I don't think there's been any investigation as to if that effect is modulated by exercise intensity or longer than average duration. I'd like to get a (passive) treadmill desk at some point for these reasons. I don't think I've ever found myself to be particularly creative on runs. I think I treat it too seriously, and when I'm not too serious, then I'm trying to be meditative with it or listening to nature. Interesting to hear other people's experiences.

loceng 12y ago

I would link this to the relatively recent research that connected lactic acid, which is created with muscle use, acting as a neurotransmitter that works on motivational systems in the brain. You need motivation to be and maintain creativity. I am sure there are other factors here at play like using the body grounds oneself, pulls you out of your mind, and will allow you to "pull away" from certain stories - or pathways - that you've been deeply reenforcing by maintaining your focus on them.

adamnemecek 12y ago
Do you happen to have a link? EDIT: I guess this is it http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uob-nrs021014.php http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uob-nrs021014...
xux 12y ago
Honestly, I think it's much more simpler than that. Walking is an alone activity, and almost forces your mind to wander with no goal in sight. Plus, the rhythmic stepping is almost like meditation.
- loceng 12y ago
  When you use your body it interrupts certain depths of thinking some. So if you're in deep thought or stuck there, it will pull you out of those crevices. Movement basically helps break up thought, I feel especially when it's bilateral movement.

eyeareque 12y ago

I also find that caffeine boosts my creativity. I rarely drink it, but when I do I become super motivated and inspired to carry out new ideas.

w1ntermute 12y ago
Same here. I save it for when I really need it, and the effect it has is always remarkable.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  I feel like an outlier. I regularly consume 400-600mg of caffeine per day, evening it out with 800-1200mg of l-theanine.
orky56 12y ago
That's interesting. Research has shown that alcohol increases creativity while caffeine increases efficiency. Alcohol is better for reducing inhibitions and thinking outside the box whereas caffeine temporarily increases blood flow thereby allowing you to more quickly breeze through permutations around decision making.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

pertinhower 12y ago

Cf. http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-out-of-control/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-ou...

jonemo 12y ago

It obviously matters what you compare it to. This study compares walking to sitting. No claims about standing, running, cycling, skydiving.

ScottBurson 12y ago
I agree, they should have tried standing. I have never found that running or cycling worked nearly as well as walking. You can't lose yourself in thought in those activities -- too much alertness is required. Maybe a slow jog, or very slow bike ride, on a very smooth trail with no traffic of any kind would work, I don't know. But in general I haven't found these conducive. What has worked very well for me, though, is 15 minutes of vigorous running followed by 60 - 90 minutes of walking.
epaladin 12y ago
We could ask Sergei Brin about the effectiveness of brainstorming while skydiving.

briantakita 12y ago

I like to pace around my place & I get into a zen state of mind. Creative & holistic thoughts emerge from the subconscious. It's one of the perks of working from home.

3rd3 12y ago

What about sitting vs. running and sitting vs. cycling? Would listening to a podcast prevent the effect?

marcosdumay 12y ago
Well, from my anecdotal experience, running and cycling don't help (but running a bit will make walking later more powerful, and cycling very slowly can help). And yes, a podcast would prevent the effect. Anyway, make your own opinion. It's a huge effect, you'll perceive it if you try. It's so big an effect that it's on folklore for as long as people started documenting such things.

RivieraKid 12y ago

I do it a lot when programming. My ideal work environment would be an office in / near a forest and being able to take a walk to the forest whenever I feel the need to.

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TillE 12y ago
I live a couple hundred meters away from a large park. Not quite the same thing if you really want solitude, but still very nice for taking breaks and thinking.
briantakita 12y ago
If you are a remote worker, you can pick your location.
VLM 12y ago
Get a programming job in the burbs. Yeah I know not very trendy, but you gotta live for yourself first and others later. Both my first and second real job were in suburban office parks with massive forest stands around the buildings to separate them, duck ponds, etc. Both formal garden-ish areas and informal trail areas. My third job (also suburban) was kitty corner to a city park full of picnic tables and wooded walking trails. Currently I'm in a very extremely urban location, no place to park, loud heavy traffic, nothing green for a couple miles unless its a hyper manicured lawn covered in blowing garbage or a potted plant, panhandlers all over, garbage everywhere, super high crime (relatively). Other than that, its a good job, but I miss working in better more civilized environments.
- RivieraKid 12y ago
  If I would ever start a business, I'd love to create a work environment like this, the problem is, that the employees would have to spend more time and money travelling to work...

snewman 12y ago

Another great thing about "walking around with a problem" is that it forces you to think before acting -- since you can't act until you get back to your desk. You know those moments when you're in the thick of coding, and you suddenly realize that one detail which you had thought would be easy, is in fact going to force you to rip up a bunch of code? I make it a rule, at that moment, to stand up and go for a walk. Often, by the time I get back, I've found a better solution.

trentmb 12y ago
> you suddenly realize that one detail which you had thought would be easy, is in fact going to force you to rip up a bunch of code? I make it a rule, at that moment, to stand up and go for a walk. I've found sobbing uncontrollably helps too.
izendejas 12y ago
This is why I like drinking water a lot. It forces me to get up away from my desk to fill my glass, and then to go to the bathroom. I've had lots of cases where I found better solutions in front of a urinal (forgive the imagery) than in front of a monitor because I felt like I eliminated a lot of irrelevant data that helped me see more clearly what the better solution was.
huherto 12y ago
A big bonus is that it keeps you away from HN, reddit et al.
- hnriot 12y ago
  not necessarily, said walking reading hn on my phone.
- stronglikedan 12y ago
  Oh, really? -- posted from my smartphone
ef47d35620c1 12y ago
I very much agree. When that happens to me, it's usually because I'm thinking about the issue in the wrong way because of how I have read (or perceived) the code and how I think the code should be. Wrong notions, assumptions, etc. Getting away from the code, allows me to carefully focus only on the problem. Then things become clear.

orky56 12y ago

"Thinking on your feet" allows you to not only be creative but also to be spontaneous so you can also apply new ideas in context. I'd be curious to know the optimal amount of walking needed/the inflection point at which there are marginal returns.

seanmcdirmid 12y ago

In an extremely perverse way, this is why smoking "feels" like it helps creativity. All of the same mechanisms and benefits apply as walking + a bit of stimulation via nicotine. Of course, the health hazards make this a crappy technique, and it would be healthier just to go out for a stroll. But this boost is definitely a part of the addiction (among other things), which makes the habit that much harder to kick once started among creative types (they feel like they are losing more than just the nicotine).

tunap 12y ago
Not just lose the nicotine, I would lose my mind or would need to take a pharmaceutical...better, right? I quit for seven months and not a second of the day or night was I not jonesing for nicotine. I am an addict, my mom quit 20 years ago and got breast cancer last year, my 93yo grandfather is one & his deceased 92yo father was one(neither ever stepped foot in a hospital). Our genes seem to abide the smoking, the other things we all have in common is we never stop moving...well except for great grampa that one fateful day he never got up to fill his pipe. If I too last until I'm 90, yay! If not, so what? Nobody gets out alive & I'm going to live well until the end. The 7 billion of the rest of you will have to go on without me. Try to be strong. Oh yeah, TFA: The pedometer on my phone tells me I walk 2.5+ miles a day... while smoking. My uncle was director of IT for Fortune 20 corp and does the same thing, he swears it is 'his process'. I concur, however, YMMV.
- dsuth 12y ago
  Having seen a few people spend their (rapidly failing) final years with emphysema and related health complications due to smoking... I can't say that you'll live well to the end necessarily. I hope you avoid that fate, random internet stranger, but there are ways to improve your chances...
  - tunap 12y ago
    As I said in 1st post, I mitigate my risks as well as I know how. Check my 2nd rant above. Also, my step-father died a short battle with Endocratic cancer in 2012 @ 63yo. He smoked on tour in Nam for < 2years. 42 years later his death was attributed to 'tobacco', "Probably". The certificate actually had a check box for 'probably'. Ignore, if you will, the agent orange, forget the smog, forget the crap he ate and his voluminous waistband or the fact that he sat in his chair for 8+hours a day after work and definitely forget the lacquers & paints he inhaled as a gifted cabinet maker for decades. It was the tobacco that killed him, says so on his death certificate.

Shivetya 12y ago

Playing the "social butterfly" at work has been my cover, I swear. Still, I do two heart walks weather permitting each day spaced out while at work, these are quarter mile walks across the parking deck and back. Combine that with my visits which themselves spark my thoughts and I can see how just changing your surroundings wakes up parts of your mind.

Mz 12y ago

I am wondering how much this is related to oxygenating the brain better. I can't readily find a supporting link, but my understanding is you breathe best while walking (and I do a lot of walking these days -- I am supposed to have serious lung issues and mostly do not anymore).

darshanman40 12y ago

ya Science bitch!

twowo 12y ago

What is interesting about this research is that, unlike in many psychological papers, the effect sizes are relatively large. That means that this research may actually have some practical consequences. Although the authors do not report effect sizes directly it seems that, in many cases, walking shifted the distribution at least one standard deviation in a direction of higher creativity (that is a lot). At the same time I wish the results were reported better, in many cases they do not even report the mean and standard deviation of different experimental groups.

wturner 12y ago

It seems like there is a less empirically measurable thing happening where a displaced sense of 'going somewhere' when walking gets pushed onto a different point of focus ( a creative project , problem , etc )

KVFinn 12y ago

Anecdotally, walking outside in a city or forest seems to work better for me than a treadmill, though this study seems to indicate it shouldn't make a difference. Lots of confounders there I suppose. Maybe specifically for creativity there's no difference but other things (mood etc) benefit from getting outside.

ritchiea 12y ago
My guess is that walking around a city or a forest is more helpful to creativity because of the gradual change in environment. And there is a lot of evidence environment has significant effects on thinking and behavior. Other studies have found high ceilings are good for creativity while low ceilings have a negative effect on creativity. I would imagine walking outside without any ceiling would be as good or better than a space with high ceilings.
- rsl7 12y ago
  I think it has more to do with engaging all your senses with the complexity of a natural environment. Many layers of sound, sight, smell, touch that are supressed indoors.
brc 12y ago
I would find walking in a city to be a barrier to creativity. You have to keep engaging your concious, safety brain to deal with other pedestrians, road crossings and immunize your brain from all the advertising and noise that is trying to penetrate. The ideal walking for me is somewhere outside with fresh air, but without constant interruptions to the flow of walking and thinking. Ideally you want to be able to walk alone, but in a type of daydream where you're thinking about the problem at hand instead of spending many cycles on the process of walking. That means covering a well known route with few interruptions. Luckily for me I have access to this type of environment right near my front door. But for those who don't, a treadmill could offer a similar experience, but I suspect the treadmill needs to be a good space (light, airy room, nice outlook from a window).
VLM 12y ago
A good experiment would be trying an urban track, like you'd see stereotypically at a high school or some parks. Then you'd have the extreme artificial urbanism, yet also have the lazy "just walk the path no interruptions" of a trail. I also walk at lunch time, also whenever shifting gears during the day, and hike on the weekends on trails, and I don't find a huge difference.

mcintyre1994 12y ago

Everybody should get a dog for this reason. I'm a student and I find I'm much more creative when I'm visiting home, either because I'm meant to be revising or because I can walk the dog.. I like to think the latter :)

marze 12y ago

Steve Jobs was known to meet one-on-one with people, with the meeting taking the form of a walk.

joshlegs 12y ago

holy crap this is awesome. i remember when i was a reporter and i had writers block, i'd go walking around the block a bit. I'd always come back with an idea of where I wanted to take the story next. It's nice to see my 'home remedy' validated.

tn13 12y ago

I have found this true and honestly I have found it true even while driving over long distances at reasonable speed.

kwyjibo1230 12y ago

Just a thought about this. I wonder if the improved creative thinking has anything to do with increased heart bpm and blood flow to the brain that is stimulated by walking or other exercise. I noticed the article said "creative juices continued to flow even when a person sat back down shortly after a walk." Perhaps this could be because after a short while a person's heart rate will go back to resting bpm, and the brain blood flow will return to resting state levels. No hard evidence on my part to back this up, just a thought.

VLM 12y ago
You're probably on to an interesting idea. Another topic to google for is blood sugar and insulin levels immediately after exercising. I once worked with a type-2 and a type-1 diabetic (not the same guy obviously) and as you'd expect with a control loop malfunction illness, both predictable and unpredictable effects were in play. If I recall correctly the type-2 guy complained that his innards would release lots of glucose while exercising and continue shortly after but his insulin production (or response?) was not so good, so his blood sugar measurably spiked high after exercise while the type-1 had his drop unless he adjusted his dosages. Or perhaps it was the other way around wrt the type 1 guy and the type 2 guy. Being a spectrum disease, I suspect even a "healthy" individual might have some peculiar short term changes to blood sugar and/or insulin levels.

eslaught 12y ago

Paper: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf Abstract: > Four experiments demonstrate that walking boosts creative ideation in real time and shortly after. In Experiment 1, while seated and then when walking on a treadmill, adults completed Guilford’s alternate uses (GAU) test of creative divergent thinking and the compound remote associates (CRA) test of convergent thinking. Walking increased 81% of participants’ creativity on the GAU, but only increased 23% of participants’ scores for the CRA. In Experiment 2, participants completed the GAU when seated and then walking, when walking and then seated, or when seated twice. Again, walking led to higher GAU scores. Moreover, when seated after walking, participants exhibited a residual creative boost. Experiment 3 generalized the prior effects to outdoor walking. Experiment 4 tested the effect of walking on creative analogy generation. Participants sat inside, walked on a treadmill inside, walked outside, or were rolled outside in a wheelchair. Walking outside produced the most novel and highest quality analogies. The effects of outdoor stimulation and walking were separable. Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.

thrownaway2424 12y ago

The further away my keyboard is, the better the code will be when I finally get there and start typing.

atmosx 12y ago

Hm, do we need a study for that? IMHO goes without saying. It's a very well known technique in management when you have to make an important decision. To take a 30-40 minutes walk and concentrate on the issue, review your initial assumptions etc. I've heard it more than once from different management coaches. Of course it boosts creativity too.

dmourati 12y ago

Walking also makes you happier. http://www.fastcompany.com/3025957/work-smart/what-happens-to-our-brains-when-we-exercise-and-how-it-makes-us-happier http://www.fastcompany.com/3025957/work-smart/what-happens-t...

atmosx 12y ago

I have another question, when you take these walks guys, do you take an mp3 device with you?

joyofdata 12y ago

I found this before Stanford found it ... during my math studies I was all the time walking up and down between the shelves of the library :) In addition to walking around I highly recommend talking to yourself and gesticulating! Looks weird but it works.

return0 12y ago

When i work at home i often find myself walking frantically all around the apartment. Now i know why.

pepijndevos 12y ago

I can't believe they refer to Steve Jobs as a primary example, while this practice dates back to at least the ancient Greek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school

gansai 12y ago
Creativity or innovation - the icon for these two words is Steve Jobs, atleast in our contemporary. That's why I guess he was chosen as a primary example, so the audience would easily gel with the context of the study.

lingoberry 12y ago

For me, it's work meetings. Whenever I'm in a meeting and something non-technical is being discussed my minds starts to wander, usually thinking about algorithms. This is quite dangerous in case you get called out on it, but I just can't help it.

darkhorn 12y ago

Improves 0.004%.

mark_l_watson 12y ago

I don't see how this is even news, based on a lifetime of experiences. I have always favored walking meetings when just two or three people are involved. I write a lot, in addition to coding, and taking walks on the trails behind our house (I live on the edge of national forest) is a daily practice. I like to think about problems, what to write about, etc.

epaladin 12y ago
Do you have any strategies for remembering what you come up with while you're out? Too many times I feel like I've had a great idea when I'm walking or hiking, only to sit down later and have no idea what it was. Or to not be able to access it in quite the same way.
aspidistra 12y ago
> I don't see how this is even news, based on a lifetime of experiences. Like the article says: "Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking. We finally may be taking a step, or two, toward discovering why." It's news because it's a scientific study into how walking makes people more creative, not whether. And it what ways: note how the study suggested that walking was better for some situations ("creative brainstorming") than others ("focused thinking").
dagw 12y ago
I don't see how this is even news, based on a lifetime of experiences Lots of people have a lifetime of experience to support that faith healing, astrology or homeopathic medicine works. Should we take their claims at face value as well or should we try to test them scientifically in a controlled manner? For what it's worth I also love to walk and find that it helps my thinking, but I'm also willing to accept that anecdotes, personal or otherwise, aren't evidence of anything.

giantrobothead 12y ago

Any act that gets you away from work for a while and allows your mind to wander is ultimately helpful. A long shower, a long walk, a long drive, interstitial spaces that give you time to think are invaluable. I used to drive for about an hour to get to my former place of work, and I had time to think about things, whether they were related to a problem I was trying to solve or what haqppened to be on the radio at the time or the meanderings that usually lead to new ideas. While the job became increasingly unpleasant, I did enjoy those drives. Acting on those ideas is key though, if you generate all these great ideas while you're on a constitutional but never do anything with them, how does that help your creative output?

JamilD 12y ago

I love the lack of distractions that comes with walking. You have nothing except your own thoughts and ideas; nothing to implement them with. Nothing to detract you from your own unmitigated thoughts.