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Comment by themoonbus | Hacker News Reader

As some one who currently works from home, a "purposeless" walk is how I start and end my work day – I think of it as my "commute". Walking clears my head, gets me outside for a bit, and helps me separate my home life from my work life.

For me, those walks might not be a necessity, but they are definitely not without purpose.

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Yes, the paradox is that daydreaming and apparent purposelessness are, in the long run, about the most important things that get done. Or at least the beginning of the most important things: things which eventually become more active and purposeful.

e.g. Peter Higgs was walking in Scotland when he thought of first thought of his boson.

I do feel that the article is somewhat strident (ho ho). The only rule about wandering (and wondering) is that there are no rules or proscriptions. In contravention of the third bullet point I often listen to audio on walks, turning it on and off at whim.

"Yes, the paradox is that daydreaming and apparent purposelessness are, in the long run, about the most important things that get done. Or at least the beginning of the most important things: things which eventually become more active and purposeful."

Assuming you actually do something with those thoughts/ideas/daydreams. I have a habit of thinking of wonderful ideas, and never quite getting around to them. At some point, too many ideas are quite debilitating.

But perhaps that's just me. Every since I started on some fun personal projects, I find my alone/me time is spent not thinking up new ideas, but thinking of ideas on how to improve/do the parts of the project I'm currently working on.

You're right. It's a bit like evolution. The overwhelming majority of mutations led nowhere but we absolutely relied on the tiny few that got us to where we are today. That said, people who can't truly relax and daydream (most people I think) are never going to get started. And children who are made to sit still in school can't think so well.

I do this exact same thing. I also take walks around the park by my house during conference calls that I don't have to speak on. I have found that it actually makes me more alert and thoughtful.

I wish I had the patience for this in the morning - I am the sort of person that rushes from A to B stressing over how much there is still to do and how little of it I've managed to complete.

I'm definitely susceptible to that too. I wish I could say I manage to do this every day but somedays I wake up and go straight to the computer, start reading emails, and get sucked into work from there. Or start reading Hacker News.

I take it you live in a climate not subject to the extremes of seasons?

Moved to Southern California 4 months ago, but grew up and lived in New England before that.

I'm an all seasons kind of guy. Sometimes you just gotta put more clothes on. And gloves and a hat. Also boots. Winter walks can be the best walks.

Agreed, not least of which because very few people go out for a walk when it's snowing or raining, which increases my enjoyment greatly. I love having a whole snowy street completely to myself.

Snow deadens sound quite a bit, and even rain adds white noise. Either is pleasant when you want to just walk and (not) think.

But as you say it's a purposeful walk to commute to/from work no? I wonder what % of people truly do the purposeless, I'm going outside for a walk, kind of walk...

I know I never do that. I walk to get somewhere, I walk to show friends the city, I walk while meeting with someone, but never walk just to walk.

I work from home – my commute starts and ends in the same place, so it is walking for the sake of walking.

I also grew up doing it, so that might have something to do with it.

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