003: Exercise to Stimulate Creativity

Welcome to Toolbox Tips, Effective’s weekly newsletter aimed at putting more tools in your productivity toolbox.

I got into mountain biking for the first time this summer. If you’ve never done it, it’s an intense activity requiring your full focus for the duration of riding a trail.

One of my first times out, I busted it really hard, and was in desperate need of a shower. (Dirt, anyone?) What happened next amazed me.

During the mental scatterfocus time that is a shower, my brain came alive with new ideas, connections, and strategies.

Exercise, it turns out, can be a superpower for stimulating creativity.

According to John Fitch and Max Frenzel in their book Time Off, exercise helps your brain rewire and prepare you for more complex problems.

And neuroscientist Shane O’Meara says that even walking can stimulate our happiness and creativity, and that being physically active prior to engaging in a creative endeavor enables our brains to engage with it in a different way.

So if you’re mentally stuck or need to work on a tricky creative problem, try exercising beforehand.

ACT: Zone in on an exercise without external stimulation like music or podcasts, then rest, let your mind wander, and see what happens.

Notent Notables

Hello to our new members Thomas, George, and Charnez! Thanks for joining Toolbox Tips.

I’ve been a little light on content production this week as I’ve been wrapping up work on Obsidian Made Simple version 2. More to come…

Obsidian Made Simple Course — Keep Productive

Learn Obsidian in one easy course. Obsidian is a powerful note-taking application, an alternative to Roam Research but with no big price tag. Obsidian is developed by the folks at Dynalist.

Keep Productive🍱 BENTO

For Your Enjoyment

This week, I’m nosing about my Obsidian vault without much of a plan — something I haven’t done in a while. Come join me at 1pm CDT on Thursday 8/4!

If you love Obsidian and haven’t signed up for Eleanor Konik’s Obsidian Roundup, be sure to check it out. It’s my weekly go-to in keeping up with everything happening in the Obsidian community.

Obsidian Roundup

A weekly summary of tips, news, & discussion points for Obsidian.md

Obsidian RoundupEleanor Konik

Here to Help

I can help you in three ways on your productivity journey when you’re ready:

1. Have a problem with your productivity/PKM system or need help with understanding or applying a concept? Ask it here.
2. Wanting to level up your Obsidian skills? Check out Obsidian Made Simple.
3. Looking to streamline your PKM workflow? Get a 60 day free trial of Readwise.

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