It is often said that problems are solved by walking. Well, it obviously depends on the nature of your problem; I am pretty positive it doesn't work if your only issue is that you can't sit still. It surely works for me though: whenever I get stuck on a problem, be it of academic or personal nature, I tend to start walking about. Often accompanied by my iPod, since music somehow seems to free my mind, and preferably ending my thoughtful strolling underneath an ash tree (how do you mean, you don't have a favourite tree?).
For those of you who are not sure what I'm talking about, here's a description I have found on Wikipedia: walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step. Imagine our parents taught us how to walk by reading this definition out loud; life could have been slightly more awkward, isn't it? Or at least funnier...
At this very moment - staring at my students wrestling themselves through their exam, I wonder how many people are actually suppressing the urge to walk around. I would love it, if people were to start walking pensively through the auditorium, hands neatly folded behind their back, staring at the ceiling with a slightly tilted head until that liberating insight crossed their mind. As a matter of fact, I would even organize peripatetic exams, taking my students out for a walk in the park. Hunting for rabbits included, nothing beats illustrating your answer using a dead bunny...
What somehow prevents me from actually suggesting this, is the idea that some people might insist on doing that other activity that induces brain activity. Because no matter how dull surveilling exams can be (read: is), it could still be worse: waiting on the other side of the toilet cubicle until people hand in their erhm... answer sheets? No thanks...
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