A New Healthy Reason to Step Away From Your Desk

Stepping away from your desk for a walk can aid in digestion, help you de-stress, and even burn a few calories. Now, recent research has found that there's another important reason to get up and move — and your boss will love it. Going for a short walk makes you more creative and productive. Stanford researchers performed four experiments involving 176 college students and other adults to examine the creativity levels of people while they walked versus while they sat. One experiment in this study concluded that individuals who walked were 60 percent more creative when compared with their seated peers.

We're all about getting some quality vitamin D and stepping outside the office, but you don't have to leave the building to make this statistic work for you. While one experiment in the study found that those who walked outside produced the highest levels of creativity, it also determined people who were headed to the water cooler or on a treadmill desk in the workplace were able to reap some of the creative benefits as well. It's also important to note that your walk doesn't have to be too long or time-consuming; researchers found that the action of moving forward for five to 16 minutes made all the difference in participants' creativity levels.

The next time your ideas or energy level are feeling stale and tired, get up and make a move. According to these findings, you might come up with your next great idea on the road!