I have always been a fan of long walks, but not until recently; I started to do these walks with a purpose.

Imagine this: If your conscious mind is like a small personal computer, then your subconscious mind is like a vast data center with hundreds of servers connected to super-computers. It can effortlessly move around huge amounts of information with lightning speed. It’s very powerful, indeed.

In order to get ideas, inspiration, creative insights, and answers to many of life’s problems, it’s best to use that powerful processing capability - our subconscious.

Long walks are one way to access it. In fact, any sort of idleness without distractions probably will do. The key is not to let your conscious mind to do the “driving” - and being in a distractive environment will definitely bring your conscious mind to the driver’s seat. Therefore, walks in a city center will not work in this regard.

I’ve actually bought a bunch of new notebooks because I needed to write down all these ideas and thoughts. I think I’m having more ideas and insights than ever before in my life.

It does work. E.g., just a couple of days ago, I was pondering over an issue - namely, I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision, and this thing bothered me the whole day. So, I went for a walk and like magic - I gained clarity. The answers and connections just flowed.

Many people underestimate the power of the unconscious and think it would be a waste of time to go for a long walk instead of consciously tackling a problem.

However, it’s usually during the idleness of the conscious mind when you come up with solutions to problems that have been troubling you for a while. Take advantage of this and get the best of both worlds.

KRISTJAN