Why you should walk away from your problems

Why you should walk away from your problemsWhy you should walk away from your problemsLast week, we stayed in Eze, a small medieval village in the French Riviera. Eze is perched on a hillside, roughly 420 meters (1,400 feet) above sea level. Near the entrance to our hotel, I noticed a sign labeled theFriedrich Nietzsche Path.The German philosopher apparently stayed in the area in the 1880s and would frequently hike up the steep path from the seaside to the village. His inspirations for the third part of his masterpiece,Thus Spoke Zarathustra, supposedly came during these daily hikes.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraI decided to follow in Nietzsches footsteps and took the walk myself. My first thought? Nietzsche must have been one fit dude. Even though Im more physically fit now than Ive ever been, I welches drenched in sweat by the time I climbed up the spectacularly steep path b ack to the village.Why did Nietzsche put himself through this intense climb every day? Setting aside the view (which isspectacular), Nietzsche knew a key to solving problems that most of us neglect.When were trying to tackle a thorny problem, we have a tendency to stare at it- literally. I find myself doing this often. As I try to come up with a title for a blog post or struggle with the right structure for a chapter in my book, Ill keep staring at my computer, and moving commas and sentences around asSisyphusrolls his eyes at me.But as Nietzsche writes, In order to see much, one must learn to look away from oneself. Put differently, a watched pot never boils. You often have to walk away from the problem- literally and metaphorically- for the answer to arrive.Consider, for example, the mathematician Andrew Wiles. In 1995, Wiles becamea celebrityafter proving Fermats Last Theorem- which had remained unsolvable for more than three centuries. When he got stuck working on the proof- whi ch was often- Wiles would stop, let his mind relax, and go for a walk by the lake. Walking, heexplains, has a very good effect in that youre in this state of relaxation, but at the same time youre allowing the sub-conscious to work on you.Research supports Wiless intuition. Incubation periods- spending time away from a problem after you get stuck- boostsyour ability to solve the problem. When you walk away, your subconscious remainshard at work, consolidating memories and making associations.This is why a good footslog is part of many renowned scientists toolkit. Nikola Tesladreamed upthe alternating-current motor during a stroll through the Varosliget park in Budapest. To ponder difficult problems, Charles Darwinwalked downa gravel path called the Sandwalk near his home in Kent, kicking up stones along the way.The physicist Werner Heisenbergdevisedthe uncertainty principle during a late-night walk through his neighborhood park in Copenhagen. For two years, he had been frustrated th at his equations could predict the momentum of a quantum particle, but not its position. One night, he had an epiphanyWhat if there was no problem with the equations? What if the uncertainty was actually inherent in the nature of quantum particles?In an age of high-tech instant gratification, walking can sound a bit underwhelming. But solutions to complex problems often come as a subtle whisper- not a big bang. To perceive the whisper, you must walk away from the problem and create space for interior silence to oppose contemporary chaos.The next time you feel stuck, just walk away (and leave your phone behind).If you keep walking with the question long enough, you will gradually walk into the answer.This article first appeared on OzanVarol.com.Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor and bestselling author.Click hereto download a free copy of his e-book, The Contrarian Handbook 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, youll get the Weekly Contrarian - a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).