Unlock Your Best Thinking
Ever wondered where your best thinking happens? It's probably not tied to your desk or sitting in an office chair. In fact, those might be the places where we do some of our worst thinking.. Our ideas get bottle up, or backlogged behind the constant distractions we get from messaging apps, emails, or even ourselves—the dreaded endless scroll on our phones. And yet, so many of us need to think clearly for problem solving or even just for creative projects we are working on. So we sit, and we scribble down ideas or try to do research to come up with something, anything, that resembles a good idea. We think that is constant drive of work will produce a good result, however there is a simple solution to reach our best thinking. And that is to stop working.
This isn’t to say we stop sitting at our desk and go sit on the couch. We shouldn’t sit at all. We should be getting up, getting out, and getting moving to get those creative juices flowing. Spending time outdoors, away from the confines of a traditional workspace, has been linked to improved cognitive function, creativity, and overall mental well-being. Three things we need in order to do what we might consider our best thinking, and produce our best ideas. The trick is we need to step away, we need to immerse ourselves in whatever it is we are doing, allowing our brains to be restored by the natural environment. This is why psychologists came up with the aptly named Attention Restoration Theory (ART). This theory states that being in nature allows our brains to enter a state of restful contemplation. By simply being in nature, it is promoting mental restoration and enhancing cognitive performance. The studies behind this theory have shown that it leads to improved attention spans, increased problem-solving skills, and a heightened ability to focus on demanding tasks. It is almost as if the further we get from the problem itself, the clearer we are able to think about it.
We can enhance this by moving too. Physical activity associated with outdoor settings contributes to cognitive benefits. Exercise has been proven to boost cognitive function and memory retention. It doesn’t need to be a demanding workout or strenuous bike ride up a mountain either. It can be a leisurely stroll in a park or a relaxing hike on a local trail. It is the combination of fresh air and movement that triggers the release of neurotransmitters, which in turn supports optimal brain function. If we get our bodies moving—even just a tiny bit—it gets our brains moving too.
It will also help spark our creativity, and will lend a hand when needing to think different to solve a problem. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that individuals immersed in nature demonstrated higher levels of creativity and problem-solving skills compared to those in urban environments (or strapped behind a desk). The natural world can inspire novel thinking, allowing individuals to break away from routine thought patterns and explore innovative ideas. This is tied to the psychological concept of "soft fascination". Basically, in natural settings soft fascination involves effortless attention to natural stimuli. This could be the sound of flowing water or rustling leaves in the wind. This type of attention has been linked to relaxation and improved cognitive performance. We become more occupied with these naturally occurring moments than the ones that are clogging our brain. It is like hitting the reset button on our thought process, allowing us to think clearer and differently.
This final piece of this entire thinking puzzle, is we can’t lose the idea. Ensuring we have some way to encapsulate it when it does spontaneously happen is key. Our phones do have sections for notes, however they also provide a distraction. Keeping a small notebook, pad and pen handy when we venture out will keep us in the moment, and also prepared for whatever brilliance the natural world will bring us.
