Steve Jobs Used to Hold Meetings While Walking Around the Apple Campus. Scientists Say He Was on to Something

Painter Pablo Picasso reportedly once said, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” However, even if you persevere in finding the solution to a task, your brain will likely get stuck and unable to develop it. Steve Jobs had an effective technique for situations like this: Getting up from his desk and going for a walk.

Walter Isaacson, the author of Jobs’ official biography, recounted in his book that most of the conversations he had with the Apple co-founder were had while taking a walk. “Taking a long walk was his preferred way to have a serious conversation,” Isaacson reported. Similarly, Jony Ive, the mind behind the product designs that brought Apple to its current position, wrote in a The Wall Street Journal article: “So much of our time together was spent quietly walking or eating.”

What to Do if You Get Stuck: Get Up and Walk Around

Multiple scientific studies have demonstrated that Jobs’ habit of taking walks around the Apple campus while engaging in conversations or pondering complex problems was beneficial.

Research from Harvard Medical School has revealed that physical activity promotes idea processing, enhances cognitive abilities, and improves memory. The World Health Organization has even scientifically proven this.

Contrary to popular belief, physical activity doesn’t necessarily require a lengthy workout. Even a 10-minute walk can start yielding these benefits. Mithu Storoni, a neuroscientist from Cambridge University and author of the book Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work, talked about this in a Harvard Business Review podcast.

“I have some clients [who have] adopted a rule. One managing director has adopted a rule of if he’s sitting in front of his computer with a problem that he hasn’t managed to solve for 10 minutes, he leaves his desk, he goes for a walk. And the reason why this works is you can use your physiology to change your brain’s thinking patterns,” Storoni said.

She explained that the brain isn’t like a muscle that can be strained for better results. According to her, more effort doesn’t equal more results when it comes to the brain. In fact, trying to continue when the brain is blocked is counterproductive in most cases.

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“[The mind] rests while it works, and it works while it rests… Taking a walk, for instance, first of all, it aligns your brain and your body’s physiology. Second is it keeps you in the right alert mental state, so you don’t just drift off, you don’t just fall asleep, or feel lethargic, or looking at your phone. But at the same time, it keeps your attention moving, because your surroundings are moving while you walk, so your attention can’t really fix on anything. So it drifts into your head, and explores your problems, and tries to solve them from different avenues,” Storoni said in the interview.

She also explained that when we walk, our brains receive different stimuli that prevent obsessive thinking about a specific idea. This break from obsessive thinking allows for discovering new paths and solutions.

Storoni highlighted that the brain uses different mechanisms for routine activities compared to more creative or problem-solving tasks. “When we are sitting at our desk and performing what is the equivalent to a mental sprinting, we are forcing our bodies to stay in a very different physiological state to our minds while we’re working,” she explained.

In addition, a group of European researchers demonstrated the benefits of walking in natural settings for reducing levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. In Norway, they even have a name for this: “friluftsliv.”

Image | Tom Coates

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