Your best ideas come to you when you’re sitting at your desk, while you’re scrolling through your phone, or while you’re staring at your laptop screen...said no one ever.
Turns out, the saying that your best ideas come in the shower is actually rooted in science. Research tells us that creativity is positively correlated with the amount of dopamine that is released. Dopamine is triggered by activities that relaxes our brains and bodies. This could be showering, exercising, or doing something else fun. In fact, a Stanford study also found that the simple act of walking could increase a person’s creativity by 60%.
However, dopamine alone is insufficient. Turns out that the element of distraction is also important. Neuroscience and psychology researchers from Harvard University and the University of Guelph state that “Distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution” and that focusing too hard on a problem might actually stand in your way of solving it.
But taking a break to go for a walk or to do an activity that frees your mind is easier said than done. For many people, COVID-19 and working from home has made this more difficult. In this new normal, it can be easy to look up and realize the entire day has gone by and you have not left the house and barely left the chair glued in front of a computer.
While one of the best things you can do for your health and productivity is to make it a routine to carve out time to go for a 30 minute or hour break during the day, whether that's to go on a walk, to do some gardening, or to get some exercise in, the challenge for many is that time eats into time to catch up. And the popular ways of communicating ideas is a written format which is not the ideal format in these situations where you want to be highly mobile or your hands and eyes are not free. Doing phone calls is a great solution, but that assumes the person you’re calling is free when you’re ready to walk.
Your best ideas come to you when you’re sitting at your desk, while you’re scrolling through your phone, or while you’re staring at your laptop screen...said no one ever.
Turns out, the saying that your best ideas come in the shower is actually rooted in science. Research tells us that creativity is positively correlated with the amount of dopamine that is released. Dopamine is triggered by activities that relaxes our brains and bodies. This could be showering, exercising, or doing something else fun. In fact, a Stanford study also found that the simple act of walking could increase a person’s creativity by 60%.
However, dopamine alone is insufficient. Turns out that the element of distraction is also important. Neuroscience and psychology researchers from Harvard University and the University of Guelph state that “Distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution” and that focusing too hard on a problem might actually stand in your way of solving it.
But taking a break to go for a walk or to do an activity that frees your mind is easier said than done. For many people, COVID-19 and working from home has made this more difficult. In this new normal, it can be easy to look up and realize the entire day has gone by and you have not left the house and barely left the chair glued in front of a computer.
While one of the best things you can do for your health and productivity is to make it a routine to carve out time to go for a 30 minute or hour break during the day, whether that's to go on a walk, to do some gardening, or to get some exercise in, the challenge for many is that time eats into time to catch up. And the popular ways of communicating ideas is a written format which is not the ideal format in these situations where you want to be highly mobile or your hands and eyes are not free. Doing phone calls is a great solution, but that assumes the person you’re calling is free when you’re ready to walk.
However, this changes with voice messaging where you can quickly and easily send and listen to messages while on the go. It’s a great way to catch-up because your eyes can stay looking forward and it doesn’t matter if the recipients are busy at that time (you’ll find they often are). It’s also a great way to capture a thought during a workout without having to stop and type something out. So make time to go out for a walk and be active and use voice messaging to catch-up.