The Easy Fix To Stimulate Your Mind And Generate More Ideas

00:00:00.000 | Who is first in our docket here?

00:00:04.000 | First question is from Eli and the question states this,

00:00:08.000 | "I finally purchased a treadmill that goes under my standing desk so I can avoid sitting all day and get more steps in.

00:00:14.000 | I'm wondering your thoughts on the effects of walking while working. Does it create the same issues as contact switching?"

00:00:21.000 | Well, okay, so Eli is one of these people who does the exercise equipment at their desk with their computer.

00:00:30.000 | If you listen to this show instead of watching it on our YouTube channel, you might not know, like our YouTube watchers know,

00:00:37.000 | that when Jesse and I are recording this show, we're doing so on NordicTrack machines. Am I right, Jesse?

00:00:42.000 | And sometimes you're on a rower.

00:00:44.000 | Sometimes I'm on a rower and Jesse holds a microphone on a boom and just moves it back and forth with me while I row

00:00:50.000 | because I'm not going to give up opportunities to stay in shape.

00:00:55.000 | Eli, I'm a big walking fan, longtime listener to the show, know this.

00:00:59.000 | I think walking is particularly good for creative insight.

00:01:04.000 | So I need a solution to a problem. I need a new business strategy.

00:01:10.000 | I need a way to open this article. How am I going to open this article?

00:01:13.000 | I'm working on a proof and I don't even know where to get into it.

00:01:16.000 | Something about the motion helps. I've heard a lot of explanations.

00:01:21.000 | I don't know if this one is true, but it's the one I often think sounds right,

00:01:25.000 | which is the circuits involved in motion are prescribed.

00:01:30.000 | And somehow when those circuits are fired up, it suppresses other parts of your brain

00:01:35.000 | and makes it easier somehow to focus on whatever you're trying to focus on

00:01:40.000 | because there's a lot of sort of distractions or other things pulling at your attention.

00:01:43.000 | They're somehow being suppressed. I don't know if that's true. We'd have to ask Andrew Huberman.

00:01:47.000 | We should just have a hotline, Jesse. Ask Andrew Huberman whenever we have a brain issue that comes up.

00:01:53.000 | And basically every time I would say something about how the brain operates,

00:01:58.000 | you would then call, press that button and Andrew would conference in and explain how everything I said was just wrong.

00:02:03.000 | That's a great idea. That'd be great. Yeah, I'm sure he would be game.

00:02:06.000 | Yeah. What else does he have to do? Yeah. Yeah.

00:02:10.000 | All right. So I'm a big fan of walking. I'm not a big fan of walking desks or even to be honest, standing desk.

00:02:18.000 | Because to me, it feels like you're capitulating.

00:02:21.000 | Work means I need to be here in front of this glowing rectangle all day.

00:02:24.000 | So how can I compensate? I think you should be walking a lot during the workday outside.

00:02:30.000 | You need the novel stimuli, the weather. It's cold today. It's hot today.

00:02:35.000 | I'm seeing different things. I'm hearing the birds.

00:02:37.000 | That's good for your soul as a human and you're going to get more insight out of that other type of work that is not creative inside work.

00:02:43.000 | I think actually could be harder while you're, let's say, on a treadmill.

00:02:48.000 | So if you're trying to answer an email, that's very different.

00:02:51.000 | Now, here you're trying to do very precise English composition.

00:02:54.000 | OK, how do I how do I precisely say this thing?

00:02:57.000 | I want to say in a way that has to write inflection and conveys the nuance of what I mean.

00:03:01.000 | That's actually something I think is harder to do while you're in motion.

00:03:04.000 | So the idea that you want to be in motion for all types of your work, I don't think I agree with.

00:03:08.000 | So I think walking is good for some work, bad for others.

00:03:12.000 | And the right way to take advantage of that is make walking be something you do outside.

00:03:17.000 | And make other computer screen work be stuff you do at your computer screen.

00:03:21.000 | Keep in mind, there's a lot of things you think you need your computer for that you can actually work out on notebooks and then come back and enter into your computer.

00:03:29.000 | So, yes, your business strategy or the article you're writing eventually does have to be typed, but you can bring a notebook with you, walk, figure that out on foot and then come back and type it in.

00:03:39.000 | So that's the way that's where I fall on walking.

00:03:42.000 | I would also say if you work from home right now, it's like maybe due to the pandemic, your company has a more permanent remote work setup.

00:03:49.000 | Take advantage of it.

00:03:51.000 | 10 to 15000 steps a day throughout the day.

00:03:54.000 | Not a mega hike at 5 a.m.

00:03:56.000 | Walk first thing in the morning, walk at the end of the day, shut it down, walk at lunch and have a couple of short walks in between.

00:04:01.000 | Put it on your calendar. Keep walking.

00:04:03.000 | It's one of the great advantages you have with working from home.

00:04:06.000 | So don't lose don't lose that possibility.

00:04:09.000 | [MUSIC]

The Easy Fix To Stimulate Your Mind And Generate More Ideas

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