Choosing slow in a city addicted to speed isn’t easy but dawdling is the kind of walking your inner artist loves because it can boost your creativity in such simple, powerful ways.

Did you know that inspirare means “to inhale” in Latin? Think about it. City life is frenetic and we live in uncertain times. It is no wonder so many of us feel frazzled and creatively unfulfilled.

Turns out that inspiration doesn’t strike when we race from here to there without a moment to catch our breath. Take a walk and you’ll have plenty of fresh ideas and creative energy.

Choose to dawdle

Saunter, stroll, meander or mooch - a casual pace works best. I like to stroll but prefer to dawdle. This verb means to waste time, to idle; it also signifies moving slowly or languidly. I used to think it was for tourists and toddlers.

Like millions of other Londoners – and urbanites the world over - I walked, talked and texted simultaneously. I dated, socialized and networked via touchscreen technology. I tracked my calories, steps and sleep quality. I went to bed with my smartphone under my pillow, replied to my boss/clients/colleagues before bedtime and suffered with insomnia.

Every day I wore my busy status as a giant badge of honour. And I seldom indulged in day-dreaming or allowed my environment to inspire me because I’d left my creative self-expression at the bottom of the career ladder sometime around the beginning of the new millennium.

The worst bit was a chronic back problem I lived with for five years. I raced through my days and ignored the pain until walking, working, sitting and sleeping became impossible and surgery inevitable.

Rewards of the slow lane

In 2014 my rock star neurologist discharged me from hospital with nothing more than minimal pain relief and instructions to take a daily walk. The first outing around my neighbourhood was tentative. I had nowhere to be and nothing to do except move one foot in front of the other. Something unexpected happened.

My body hurt with each footstep and yet this slower pace allowed urban vignettes to unfold before me: a quirky shop window, the whiff of fresh gloss paint, an exchange of smiles, childish chatter from a local playground, the warmth of spring sunshine on my cheeks, a magnolia tree in full bloom, the distant rumble of a Tube train.

In the same month, researchers at Stanford University reported that walking boosted creativity by up to 60 per cent. I didn’t know this as I moved along the street like a robot. This simple rhythmic movement that I had done without thinking – until I couldn’t - sparked a million questions in me while my anxious thoughts melted away.

I felt an urgency to spill words across a blank page. Despite this, my return to home did not involve velocity; instead I ambled back, filled with creative possibility and joy.

These short every day strolls changed my life. The lens through which I viewed my native city had changed and it was exhilarating.

Inspiration is everywhere when you stop long enough to breathe

Less rushing around town and hurrying into the future helped me take in what had always been there. My convalescent strolls were along ordinary residential streets, but I found delight and inspiration all around. I believe the act of moving our body changes gears in our brains, thus making space for connections and reflections.

The Stanford study found that walking boosted a person’s creative output regardless of whether they were outside in the fresh air or inside on a treadmill in a windowless basement gym facing a blank wall.

Whether it is washing our hair or walking, the scene is different from the moment before and our motion is repetitive and rhythmic, requiring only mild exertion; our attention is unfocused and we zone out from quotidian worries and desires, then our minds drift off again. In this way, insights and ideas emerge. It is the same reason so many of us have lightbulb moments in the shower.

The path to fresh ideas

Dawdling gave me the courage to choose slow in a city addicted to speed, to cultivate my curiosity and later to embark on a new way of working. How could any of that be labelled a waste of time?

Soon after that transformative keyhole surgery on my spine, I ambled out of my dream job as co-founder of the London School of Economics’ entrepreneurship hub and created the Urban Curiosity Walkshop.

Version 1.0 was a series of creativity and digital mindfulness sessions in London neighbourhoods – on foot. Version 2.0 is a powerful alternative mindfulness and creativity course for creators who want to make a difference without burning out.

Do your own walkshop

1. Fire up…

… your senses. Assess how you are feeling in your head and locate where your body is holding that sensation. Take that first step and notice your heel strike the ground, the arch of your foot curving and each of your toes making contact with the floor. How do they feel in your shoes?

2. Tune in.

Search for the colour red in the cityscape. Shades and tones of it will present themselves everywhere: shop signs, lips, cars, clothing, graffiti. Next, pick a letter of the alphabet and search for it in the street: on architecture, window frames, iron railings, garden squares. Hunt for the letters of your name or quirky words in shop frontages. Look for shapes and lines; think about textures and materials.

3. Pause.

If you brought pen and paper with you, free-write for one minute about what you recall about your journey from your starting point to this point. Note down words, sentences or doodles.

4. Perspective.

Cross over the road and spot differences you’d never notice on your habitual route. Change your point of view: pause and crouch down to look up at a ghost sign.

5. Get moving.

Study the buildings or houses on the street. Look for old jammed next to new; notice red bricks next to shiny glass and metal. Search for the joins and symmetry; imagine what the walls would say if they could speak.

6. Observe.

Who is around you? Pick a person and give them a name. Where are they from and what is their destination? What drew you to this individual? How would you describe them to the police in the event of an incident? Observe their clothing, footwear, facial expression, accessories, behaviour and general vibe. Make eye contact with this person or someone else. Smile.

Key Takeaway

Remember the power and simplicity of dawdling, idling wherever you are right now. Wander, wonder and make space for connection and discovery. Meaningful revelations await.

This is an adapted excerpt of my essay featured in Walking in the Rain, a Department Store for the Mind title published by Aster, an Octopus imprint.