Why I enjoy going for walks.

My typical day involves waking up inappropriately late and heading off to my day job. I still don't know why I wake up so late for work, but if there's any silver lining, it will have to be the luxuriously traffic-free commute. Trust me, if you've ever experienced the 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. "gold rush," you know exactly what am talking about. Once I get to work, I spend about 4 hours in meetings and 2 hours getting any actual work done. Once that ordeal is over, if I don't stop by the gym for an hour, I'll head home to collapse on my couch and surf the web until I fall asleep. Multiply this routine by five days, and you have a routine that makes it hard for my brain to unwind. Between the mind-numbing day job and the brain-clogging social media escapades, I rarely have the time for independent thought or a chance to reflect on how the day has gone.

It was only by chance that I found out how awesome walking is for my mind. About six months ago, I started making an effort to walk at least 3 miles on the weekends or late evenings on certain weekdays. What I quickly noticed was how refreshing it was. I could feel my mind breathing a sigh of relief as it took this rare opportunity to reflect and wander into the territory of random ideas. I very rarely get to indulge in independent thought because I am addicted to my smartphone, like everyone else. Peering at my phone all day makes it hard for me to come up with original ideas. But whenever I go for a walk, I find that my mind becomes clear of distractions, and I find that I can reflect on the day and just let myself think. A lot of my best ideas for how to push our Boomslank brand forward are products of long walks around my neighborhoods.

I don't know if I am unique in this situation. Maybe I am, maybe I am not. You'd be surprised by how similar we all are.