Hughs Blog

Walking into surprising solutions

As an avid runner, I know that physical activity, of any kind, stimulates centers in our brain that allow for creative thought and increased positive mood. Even a brisk walk will increase your heart rate, release endorphins that reduce pain and give you a feeling of well-being. A ten minute walk in the middle of the day can turn your dull feeling of work pressure around and send you back to the office feeling more positive and focused. Better than a cup of coffee and cheaper too.

In his book, Walking Your Blues Away: How to Heal the Mind and Create Emotional Well-Being, Thom Hartman promotes the value of walking for changing the emotional energy around a problem and finding new solutions. He recommends that you choose one topic or challenge and stay focused on it throughout your walk. When you find yourself drifting off topic, remind yourself to refocus on the one topic.

As you are walking notice how the issue changes. It could be a subtle change in feeling, like some of the anger is slipping away, or even a new solution bubbling to the surface. Towards the end of your walk, anchor the memory of your new feeling or solution, and write it down.

I was doing this recently as I ruminated about staffing. Just that day I had received notice from my main employee announcing that she was going on maternity leave permanently. The usual remedies started to come up: replace her, look at temp services, outsource her work, etc. As I walked I allowed the solutions to quiet and to just be with the question “what do I want?”  and not: ‘what is the solution?’.

It was freeing to not jump into solution-creating mode. I started to notice the day more,  took in the fresh air and felt my feet as they carried me into the central park. If anything, I was focused on now focusing – just relaxing and taking in the day.

After about ten minutes the thought of replacing my employee was taking a back seat to envisioning my ‘ideal day’ and what I really wanted. I started to picture a simpler surrounding at work, less paper and filing cabinets holding forgotten records, fewer wires and boxes humming away doing who-knows-what at my expense. It was freeing!

By the time I was heading back to my office I was convinced that the solution was not about replacing what I had, but instead getting free of the complexity I had created around me over the last six years in that location and 19 years in this business.

Within a few days I (with the help of my wonderful departing employee) had crafted an exciting plan to sell or give away all the furniture, phones and computers (except one for each of us). Take any non-essential papers and files to recycling and to move to a one person office (Yup, that’s me).

Together we have made a work plan for the company and are actively outsourcing as much work as possible and she will work part time from her home. I will be cutting my overhead by about $70,000/year and creating a whole new, more creative work environment built on simplicity. No more computer servers, filing cabinets for ancient records, empty office space I pay for, parking passes, security issues and dreary downtown energy.

Within a week I had landed a sweet little office in the heart of the Pandosy District of Kelowna that is quickly shaping up to be the West End (referring to my home town of Vancouver, of course) of Kelowna. It’s half the commute distance to home and has a shower which means running to work with my dog is now a reality. I feel like I am getting a new start and it is completely centered on my happiness and creativity.

I’m convinced that none of these solutions would have come to me by sitting in a room with a mindmap and making lists. I needed to break free from my trapped thinking that following old channels of cause-effect reasoning and really ask a different set of questions.

And it only took ten minutes of walking to get the process started.

Here’s the best advice I can give you: go for a walk.

Tags: culver, endorphins, health, procrastination, productivity, time management, walking

This Column has 2 Comments

1. admin

   Posted On: April 3, 2010

   Thanks Rob. I’m taking a page off of some of the more popular bloggers: offer advice, not personal ramblings (OK, not all the time).

   H

2. Robin

   Posted On: March 28, 2010

   I am so happy to read this thread, Hugh. Congrats! Love Rob