The Science of Walking and Creative Thinking
– Based on research by Marily Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz, Stanford University 

We often say we need to “walk through a problem” – but what if that’s exactly what our brains need?

A fascinating study from Stanford researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz provides compelling scientific evidence that walking can significantly boost creative thinking.

And this isn’t just feel-good advice. Their research offers robust experimental support for something many of us have intuitively felt: when the feet start moving, the mind follows.

The Research in a Nutshell

Across four carefully structured experiments, Oppezzo and Schwartz explored how walking influences divergent thinking – the type of thinking involved in brainstorming, generating new ideas and solving problems creatively.

Their findings? 

Walking – whether indoors on a treadmill or outdoors, consistently led to substantial increases in creative output, required in tasks like reframing problems, generating new ideas or exploring varied responses.

But, this ‘walking effect’ however, doesn’t help with tasks that require single, focused answers like calculations.

Exploring Further

In the series of four experiments, participants were asked to complete tasks that required divergent thinking.

Experiment 1: Walking vs. Sitting

• 81% of participants improved their performance in the set ‘creative tests’ when walking on an indoor treadmill compared to sitting.
• Walking increased creativity by 60% on average.
• Walking enhanced fluency (number of ideas) and originality – two key indicators of divergent thinking.
• No significant improvement was seen in convergent thinking (tasks with one correct answer), suggesting that walking stimulates ideation, not necessarily logic.

Key insight: Walking stripped of scenic inspiration, also had a measurable effect on creativity.

Experiment 2: Timing Matters

• Participants either walked first and then sat to do the test, or vice versa.
• Those who walked before the creative task still performed better, showing that the effects persist for a time after movement.

Key insight: Walking has a residual boost for creative thought – it “primes” the brain.

Experiment 3: Indoors vs. Outdoors

• This compared walking indoors (on a treadmill) with walking outdoors.
• Outdoor walkers generated more high-quality creative ideas than those indoors.
• However, walking itself, not just the environmental change, was the primary factor.

Key insight: Although nature helps, it’s the movement that matters most.

Experiment 4: Movement vs. Visual Stimulation

• Participants were either sat and pushed in a wheelchair outdoors, or they walked outdoors.
• Walkers outperformed wheelchair users in creativity tasks.

Key insight: Physical motion, not just visual novelty, drives the effect.

The results were striking:

• 81% of participants saw improved creative performance while walking.
• Creative output increased c.60% for those who walked, generating more ideas, more unique ideas, and more high-quality analogies.
• The boost wasn’t limited to the moment: walking before a task also enhanced creativity afterwards.
• Even walking indoors on a treadmill improved the results, reflecting that the movement, not the ‘outdoors’, had the biggest impact.

What happens in the brain?

Walking appears to activate more than our legs. It activates our thinking too. Researchers suggest that walking:

• Loosens fixed thinking patterns, helping ideas to flow more freely
• Enhances our energy levels and cognitive flexibility
• Shifts our mental state away from ‘problem focus’ and toward ‘possibility’
• There may be an embodied cognition effect – the idea that our bodily actions shape our thinking. In this case, the open-ended motion of walking mirrors the open-ended thinking required in creativity.

This aligns with older anecdotal reports too: philosophers like Nietzsche, Darwin, and Rousseau all famously walked to think. Now we have the science to back their intuition.

Implications for Work, Learning and Innovation?

This research actually lands with a bit of a ‘thud’ in the heart of modern work culture. 

For in an age of back-to-back Zoom meetings, observing computer screens and desk-bound problem solving, the Oppezzo & Schwartz study suggests that we are doing creativity a disservice. And our businesses too.

So, it’s time to shake it up! Change our work routine. Change our workspace. And get moving. For example.

• Take walking meetings: Particularly for brainstorming sessions, for these could yield fresher, more generative ideas.
• Take creative prep walks: Before writing, designing, or problem-solving, a short walk might supercharge ideation.
• Don’t simply wait for inspiration at your desk – go find it with your feet!

Remember!

Creativity doesn’t always come when you’re stuck in front of a boardroom or office whiteboard. Its ,ore likely to show up part-way along a path.

Reference: Oppezzo, M., & Schwartz, D. L. (2014). Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(4), 1142–1152.
Read the full paper here