Have you ever wondered why some of your best ideas come to you on a walk or when you’re having a coffee? Maybe like Steve Jobs, you get inspiration from walk and talk meetings? According to his biography, ‘taking a long walk was his preferred way to have a serious conversation.’ Well, there is solid research to support the idea of getting away from our desks to think better. It is a topic covered in depth in a book, The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, by Annie Murphy Paul.

✍🏻 THE AUTHOR

Annie Murphy Paul is an acclaimed science writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, and The Best American Science Writing, among many other publications.

❓WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT?

Here is a neat summary from the back page of the book.

‘“Use your head.” That’s what we tell ourselves when facing a tricky problem or a difficult project. But a growing body of research indicates that we’ve got it exactly backwards. What we need to do, says acclaimed science writer Annie Murphy Paul, is think outside the brain.

A host of “extra-neural” resources—the feelings and movements of our bodies, the physical spaces in which we learn and work, and the minds of those around us—can help us focus more intently, comprehend more deeply, and create more imaginatively.’

‘Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement.’

Annie Murphy Paul

🏆 WHAT YOU WILL GET FROM READING IT

The Extended Mind offers a dramatic new view of how our minds work, full of practical advice on how to think better.

🙋 How do you do your best thinking? 🙋‍♀️

Best regards, Brian