Encourage employees to hold a "Walking Meeting" when possible. Some meetings don't require pen and paper just a melding of minds, for these instances, encourage employees to get out of the building and stretch their legs, as well as their minds, as they walk paths or sidewalks around the facility together.

Finding Inspiration on the Treadmill

When your job asks you to brainstorm on regular basis, even a marketing wunderkind will hit the creative wall once in a while. To keep those mental blocks to a minimum, Dr. Amantha Imber recommends aerobic exercise, citing a study by David Blanchette that concludes a little workout pays big dividends in creativity:

• Group 1 did no exercise prior to their creative task. "Lucky them, some of you might be thinking," says Imber.
• Group 2 participated in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise - such as walking, biking, swimming and runningbefore undertaking their creative task.
• Group 3 also took 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, but waited for two hours before digging in to their creative task.

But group 1 wasn't so lucky after all. "The researchers found that groups 2 and 3 performed significantly better on the task than the no-exercise group," says Imber. With this in mind, she suggests:

• Going to the gymor at least for a brisk walkahead of your brainstorming sessions.
• Scheduling lunchtime walking groups to encourage creativity during the afternoon.
• Considering mini-workouts when you're in the middle of extended creative sessions.

"As well as concluding that aerobic exercise enhances creativity, [researchers] also point out that the positive effects of this activity are somewhat enduring, and certainly last at least up to two hours after completing the exercise" says Imber.

Source: Article submitted by Amantha Imber, from www.inventium.com.au.