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Walking and Thinking

2020.07.13

Writer and poet Gentle Ehrlich said, “Walking is also an ambulation of mind.” In other words, when you’re walking, not only your body but also your brain is moving. For many writers, walking is one way to take a break from writing and come up with new ideas for stories. How can employees and students apply this idea?

 

In her TED Talk, Nilofer Merchant, a business innovator, suggests that a walking meeting is one solution to sitting though boring meetings at work. In a walking meeting, employees walk and talk instead of sitting at a table. At first, people thought the main benefit of walking meetings would be that employees would sit less and exercise more. However, the walking meeting had another surprising benefit: employees increased their creativity and developed innovative ideas. In fact, according to researchers, walking has a significant impact on creative thinking. This could work for students too. After studying for a long time, going outside or taking a walk may be just what you need to look at a topic in a new way.

 

Another way for students to move more is to combine walking with doing other activities. Merchant says, “I used to think about it as, you could take care of your health, or you could take care of your obligations, and one always came at the cost of the other.” In other words, in the past, she thought that it was difficult to complete all her tasks and exercise too. However, it is possible to combine walking with errands. For example, depending on where you live, it might be possible to walk to the supermarket or station. Also, it might be possible for students to combine walking and studying. While walking in a familiar place, you could listen to music, podcasts, or listening exercises in English. In this way, you can study but spend less time sitting.

 

Sometimes walking outside isn’t an option because of the weather or other reasons. In this case, just a change of scenery may be helpful, so how about taking a virtual walk in a far away place or trying another type of indoor exercise? The main point is that if you need a break or a new idea, the solution might just be to move your body!

 

https://www.ted.com/talks/nilofer_merchant_got_a_meeting_take_a_walk?language=en

 

 

Photo Credit: Yogendra Singh@pexels.com

 


Blog Quiz

 

1. What is a walking meeting?

A.   When people have a meeting in a conference room

B.    When people have a meeting while taking a walk

C.    When people have a virtual meeting

 

2. What are the two main benefits of walking meetings mentioned in the article?

A.   Getting more exercise and making new friends

B.   Discovering new places and getting new ideas

C.   Decreasing sitting time and increasing creativity

 

3. Can you give an example of a task mentioned in the article that can be combined with walking?

A.   Doing the laundry

B.   Writing a research paper

C.   Going grocery shopping

 

 

 

 

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 




 

Quiz Answers

 


1. B

2. C

3. C

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