It feels a little ironic to talk about writing and moving since writing is one of those activities that where you feel pretty much justified sitting down. But hear me out.
I’ve known for a long time that movement plays a pivotal part in my writing process. In college I would invariably go through a stage in the process of writing papers where I would get completely stuck. I could not shift my thinking, could not refine my logic, could not generate another idea.
Eventually I would leave my desk in disgust and go out and stomp around, fuming. When I finally returned to my desk, it always seemed like the contents of my brain had shifted and new ideas began to appear. At that time, I was learning about the Peripatetic or “walking around” school of philosophy in Ancient Greece, reputedly named for Aristotle’s habit of pacing, so I saw myself as following in the footsteps (sorry, couldn’t resist) of the ancients.
As is so often the case, science is beginning to explain what humans have known for centuries—that there is a link between movement and thinking. Ezra Klein recently interviewed Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Extended Mind, who talked about the idea that humans evolved to move and that in fact we’ve had to work hard to socialize ourselves into sitting still. She pointed that out a huge part of childhood socialization revolves around teaching kids to sit still.
Let that sink in for a minute.
What this means is that we see stillness as so synonymous with thinking that we label kids and adults who need to move in order to think different if not outright deficient (the first D in ADHD is for deficit).
Paul suggests that by enforcing stillness, white collar work may be robbing us of a critical, possibly even natural cognitive support—movement.
I want to inspire you to try combining writing and moving. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Before you walk or ride your bike, give your brain an “assignment” by thinking briefly about the subject or issue you’re writing about. Don’t try to focus on in during your ride. Write about the thing when you get back. (This actually also works with sleep.)
Instead of just doing writing Poms (pomodoros), alternate writing and movement Poms. I often do Tabatas between writing Poms.
Experiment with doing yoga or your favorite exercise before writing.
Write standing up. Does your brain feel different?
Record yourself talking while you walk, then use the transcript as your first pass.
I’d love to hear how movement factors into your writing work. If you’re reading this as a subscriber, you can always reply directly. If you haven’t subscribed yet, think about joining Leaders Write to get more writing strategies you can use delivered straight to your inbox. Ready to apply these insights? Join the Leaders Write Executive Community for hands-on prompts and exercises.