When forming ideas, many of us fall back on physical habits – some of us pace, for example, while others sit still. But is one bodily state more conducive to creative thinking than another?

A set of experiments reported in the Journal Frontiers in Psychology tested how college students fared on a range of creative-thinking tasks while in different states.

The participants came up with higher-rated responses while walking in a loop than while standing still, and even better ones while roaming freely. But the experimenters also found that students earned stronger ratings while standing than while sitting or lying down.

The researchers propose that more physically active conditions likely consume more mental bandwidth than less active ones, and so could reduce the amount of control people exert on their thoughts.

When you want your creative juices flowing – get up and roam freely!

Studies suggest we get our most original and creative thoughts when we daydream. When we are bored we end up daydreaming and our mind wanders to seek stimulation. You tap into your subconscious, which comes up with connections and solutions that go beyond the bounds of rationality.

Next time you need to think outside the box, go slowly through a tedious task, which might free the inventive part of your brain just enough to spark an aha moment.

Or try one of these mostly mindless activities: