Take a walk, but just for a bit: Research shows that it helps with creativity, problem-solving

( Natural News ) Whenever you go on a short walk before working on a tough problem, you use the same creativity-boosting technique Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and other geniuses used during their heyday. A recent study showed that walking plays an important role in getting the creative juices flowing and coming up with impressive solutions to problems. Researchers from Stanford University noted that many geniuses in human history made it a habit to walk before tackling difficult problems. Some of them, like Einstein and Jobs, even worked on their problems during their walks. As part of their experiment, researchers asked some participants to either sit down or walk on a treadmill while facing a blank wall indoors. Meanwhile, they asked another set of participants to go outdoors. Some of them went for walks while the rest sat in wheelchairs and were pushed along the same route. The researchers evaluated the creative output of the participants by testing their divergent thinking – that is, their ability to come up with creative approaches by exploring different possible solutions. The researchers reported that walking increased the creative output of participants. Those who walked experienced a 60 percent increase in creative output compared with people who spent their time sitting. (Related: If you want to spur those creative juices then spend MORE time by yourself: Study .) Taking short walks is the creativity-boosting technique of geniuses Einstein and company liked to take long walks every day. Some of them spent hours walking outdoors. But the researchers from Stanford found that a person doesn’t need to go on a long walk to increase his or her creativity. Walking for a short period of time – anywhere between five to 16 minutes – was enough to raise the creative output of the participants in […]

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