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You know, Aria, I had one of those days
not long ago where I was absolutely

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welded to my chair.

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Two hours at my desk,
staring at a blinking cursor,

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convinced I was going to wrestle this
article into existence by sheer

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willpower.

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And the harder I pushed,
the emptier my head felt.

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Oh I know that day.

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That's every Thursday for me.

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Good intentions at nine, and by
mid-morning you've checked your email,

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emptied the dishwasher, discovered three
new ways to procrastinate... but

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not actually written anything.

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I'd made coffee.

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I'd replied to emails that did not need
replying to.

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I'd even reorganised a folder on my
desktop that hasn't mattered since

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2016.

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And there was this stern little voice
saying,

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"Stay in the chair.

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Don't move until you've solved it."Ah.

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The productivity police.

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They live in my head rent-free as well.

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Then,

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in a fit of frustration, I did the most
unproductive thing I could think

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of.

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I gave up.

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I went to have a shower.

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And somewhere between shampoo and
conditioner,

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the whole thing clicked into place.

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The title, the structure,
even a line I'd been missing.

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It just... arrived.

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Of course it did.

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The number of arguments I've won in the
shower,

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Chef, after completely losing them in
real life...And later that afternoon

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I found myself at a whiteboard,

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marker in hand,
just pacing and scribbling.

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The ideas kept coming faster than I could
write them down.

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Same brain.

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Same problem.

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Completely different state.

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So at the desk: nothing.

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In the shower and at the whiteboard:
magic.

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And everyone listening will have their
version of that.

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The morning jog.

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The walk with the dog.

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The washing upWe talk as if it's some
mystical muse that visits us in

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the bathroom and abandons us at the
laptop.

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But here's what I want to suggest today:
the problem isn't your brain.

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It's your chair.

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Go on, Chef.

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You've just offended everyone who spent a
fortune on their executive

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chair.Let me get myself into
more trouble.

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Think about the most creative people in
history and picture how they

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actually worked.

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Hemingway wrote standing at a makeshift
desk built from a bookcase.

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Dickens stood to write Oliver Twist.

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Virginia Woolf had a desk so high she had
to stand to reach it.

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Churchill wrote standing, cigar in hand.

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Painters stand at easels.

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Sculptors stand before marble.

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Chefs, my favourite people ,

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create on their feet.

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Conductors shape sound with their whole
body.

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None of them do their most important
creative work sitting down.

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That's

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so obvious once you say it,
but we don't live like it.

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Most of us are folded into a chair,

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hunched over a laptop, trying to be
brilliant with just our fingersYes.

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Most modern work has reduced our entire
creative apparatus to these tiny

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movements on a keyboard or a screen.

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From the neck down, we've effectively
switched the body off and then

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told the brain, "Go on, perform.

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Solve everything." No wonder the cursor
stares back at us.

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So you're not

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saying, "Chairs are evil, burn them all."
You're saying there's something

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about sitting,
and especially sitting at a screen,

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that gets in the way of the kind of
thinking we're actually trying to

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do.

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That's right.

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What we're interested in is something
more specific: what happens when

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the body is upright, gently moving,

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and the mind is free to generate rather
than executeAlright,

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Doctor, take us into the brain.

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What's happening upstairs when we're
staring at the ceiling in the shower

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and suddenly solve a problem we couldn't
touch at the laptop?

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There's a

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neural network in your brain,
called the Default Mode Network - the DMN.

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It's most active when you're not
concentrating hard on a specific task.

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Walking, showering, letting your mind
drift - that's the DMN making connections

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between ideas, drawing on memories,

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running "what if" simulations.

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It's the system that supports associative,

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lateral thinking.

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In plain language: it's your creative
engine.

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That explains a lot.

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My best ideas feel like they sneak up on
me from the side while I'm doing

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something else.

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Exactly.

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We often experience creativity as
something that arrives,

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rather than something we manufacture on
demand.

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But here's the important twist: that same
network has a slightly darker

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talent.

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I knew there was a catch.

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If you leave the Default Mode Network

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with nothing constructive to do-no
question,

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no idea to explore-it doesn't sit quietly.

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It tells stories.

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And its favourite genre,
if it's not given better material,

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is catastrophe.

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That three a.

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m.

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worry spiral where you imagine losing
your job,

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your relationship,
your home-that's also your DMN at work.

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Same engine, different fuel.

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Oh yes,

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I know that one.

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It starts with "I forgot to send that
email" and ends with "I'll die

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alone with no pension." That's my 3 am
DMN.

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Exactly.

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So you can think of it as two
personalities.

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Give it a seed-"How could I explain this
simply?" "What might be a better

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title?"-and then you walk, shower,

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stand at the window... it uses its power
for insight.

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Leave it directionless, and it uses that
same power for worst-case fiction.

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So

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where does sitting come into this?

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When you sit at a screen and try to

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force ideas,
you activate another of your networks,

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the executive control network - the
analytical,

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focused, logical machinery.

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Great for spreadsheets and procedures,

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but it actively competes with the DMN.

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When one is strongly on,
the other is off.

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And our digital tools make

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it worse - menus, formatting,
file management - all burning cognitive

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resources that could be serving the idea
itself.

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You're not just thinking about your idea,

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you're thinking about which button to
click,

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how to format the slide,
which tab just pinged.

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All of that eats cognitive resources.

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I really feel that.

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The number of times I've sat down to
write something and ten minutes

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later I'm trying different fonts for a
heading no one will ever notice,

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instead of actually thinking about the
content.

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Exactly.

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You're in tight, self-monitoring mode.

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"Is this right?

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Is this good?" Meanwhile, the creative
part of your brain is being told

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to sit quietly in the back.

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It's like revving the engine with the
handbrake on.

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Lots of effort, not much movement.

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That's why sitting there forcing it feels
so stuck.

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And yet in the shower,

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there are no menus,
no formatting decisions.

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Just hot water and tiles.

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Neuroscience gives us some lovely
evidence for

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this.

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There's research from Stanford showing
that simply walking-indoors on

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a treadmill, staring at a blank wall,

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nothing glamorous-increases creative
output by up to sixty percent compared

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with sitting.

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People generate more and more original
ideas when they're moving at a

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gentle pace than when they're parked in a
chair.

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Sixty percent is huge.

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And this was walking in a boring room,

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not along a beach at sunset with a soy
latte.

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The environment matters

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less than we might think.

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The key ingredients are: low cognitive
load,

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gentle movement, and the freedom for the
DMN to run in the background.

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When you're walking or standing at a
whiteboard,

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you're engaging embodied cognition-the
idea that the body isn't just

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carrying your brain around.

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It's actively shaping how you think.

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I love that phrase,

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embodied cognition.

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Because when I think about my own life,

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some of my best ideas have arrived when
I'm doing something really mundane

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with my body-washing dishes,
folding laundry,

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even just walking to the tube.

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My mind feels like it's roaming while my
hands are busy.

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Yes.

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Broad, physical movements-like writing on
a vertical surface,

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gesturing, pacing-light up neural
pathways that sitting simply doesn't

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reach.

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It's as if the brain says, "Ah,

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the body is involved, we must be in
creation mode," and it loosens its

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grip on that tight, controlling,

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analytic stance.

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Sitting and glaring at the screen is like
sitting in

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a rocking chair.

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There's plenty of movement... but you're
not actually going anywhere.

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The harder you rock, the more energy you
spend - but you're still in

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the same placeBeautifully put.

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And when you stand up, move,
or give your hands a pen and a forgiving

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surface,
you're telling the executive system,

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"You can relax a little.

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Let the creative engine run and see what
it gives us."That's what I call

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the Whiteboard Effect.

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I feel different just hearing you
describe it.

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There's a kind of looseness to it.

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If I hate what I've drawn, I wipe it off.

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No "are you sure you want to delete this
file?" drama.

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Exactly.

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And underneath that, your body is
actively shaping how you think - embodied

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cognition.

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The DMN is freed because the low
cognitive load means your executive

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system isn't wrestling with software.

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And the gap between having a thought and
seeing it in front of you is

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almost nothing.

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The shower, the park walk, the whiteboard
- they're all the same phenomenon.

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Your body is gently engaged,
your executive mind relaxes,

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and your creative engine is finally
allowed to run.

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That makes sense of

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why I feel cleverer with a flipchart than
a slide deck.

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I thought it was the smell of the pens,

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but apparently, it's my Default Mode
Network getting fresh air.

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Now,

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here's the interesting twist.

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When you stand up to speak-on a stage,

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in a meeting room, even just at the front
of your team-you're already

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in a similar physical state.

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You're upright, and you're moving.

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In other words, the Whiteboard Effect is
already primed to help you think

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fluidly and expressively.

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Hang on,

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but that's not how most people describe
public speaking,

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is it?

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They don't say, "Oh,
I feel fluid and expressive." They say,

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"My brain left my body,
my notes looked like hieroglyphics,

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and I forgot my own name."So the
question is,

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if the body is set up to help us when we
stand up,

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what goes wrong?

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And the answer, unfortunately,

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is fear.

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Here we go.

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My favourite topic.

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Heart palpitations and sweaty palms.

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When many people stand up in front

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of others, the mind races ahead and
constructs a catastrophe.

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"What if I forget my words?

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What if they discover that I'm an
imposter?

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What if I fail and this ruins my career?"
Each of those fears rests on

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a long chain of imagined events that
would all have to go wrong in the

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right order.

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In real life, they almost never do.

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But the body doesn't know the difference
between a real threat and a

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vividly imagined one.

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So in theory,

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I was set up to be brilliant,
and then fear crashed the party.

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Exactly.

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Deep in the brain,
you have the amygdala-your alarm centre.

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It evolved to ask, "Is that rustling in
the bushes a threat?" It does

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not distinguish between "sabre-toothed
tiger" and "PowerPoint audience"

253
00:14:01,315 --> 00:14:05,845
if the story in your head feels
dangerous.

254
00:14:01,315 --> 00:14:05,845
So my poor amygdala-the fear

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00:14:05,845 --> 00:14:08,666
centre-is looking at this perfectly
normal meeting room and going,

256
00:14:08,666 --> 00:14:09,699
"Sabre-toothed tiger!

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00:14:09,699 --> 00:14:14,646
Run!"The amygdala fires,
cortisol floods your system,

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00:14:14,646 --> 00:14:17,522
heart rate goes up, muscles tighten.

259
00:14:17,522 --> 00:14:22,560
Your executive control network seizes the
controls.

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00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:28,300
Its job is to keep you safe,
so it narrows your focus right down and

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00:14:28,300 --> 00:14:32,541
starts monitoring everything: "How am I
doing?

262
00:14:32,541 --> 00:14:33,977
What are they thinking?

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00:14:33,977 --> 00:14:40,275
Did that sentence land badly?"Which is
the exact opposite of what I need

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00:14:40,275 --> 00:14:42,922
to be doing if I want to be present and
responsive and,

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00:14:42,922 --> 00:14:45,817
you know, actually say something useful.

266
00:14:42,922 --> 00:14:45,817
Right.

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00:14:45,817 --> 00:14:51,952
In that moment, the very system that was
about to make you brilliant-the

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00:14:51,952 --> 00:14:55,000
Default Mode Network goes quiet.

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That's why nervous speakers go blank,

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00:14:59,478 --> 00:15:01,948
become robotic, lose the thread.

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It's not a lack of ability.

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It's a hijack.

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00:15:04,666 --> 00:15:08,566
This is so reassuring,

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00:15:08,566 --> 00:15:09,100
actually.

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00:15:09,100 --> 00:15:10,923
Because so many people make it mean,

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00:15:10,923 --> 00:15:13,825
"I'm just not a good speaker," when
really what's happened is,

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00:15:13,825 --> 00:15:17,057
"My brain thought I'd been thrown to the
lions."Exactly.

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00:15:17,057 --> 00:15:22,395
For years, the old advice for nervous
speakers was to imagine the audience

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00:15:22,395 --> 00:15:26,920
naked, which I've always thought is an
excellent way to make everyone

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uncomfortable and solve nothing.

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00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,765
Please,

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00:15:29,765 --> 00:15:31,449
let's not bring that into the workplace.

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00:15:31,449 --> 00:15:33,155
"Welcome to the quarterly review,

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00:15:33,155 --> 00:15:33,678
everyone.

285
00:15:33,678 --> 00:15:36,035
Also, I'm picturing you all naked." No,

286
00:15:36,035 --> 00:15:42,429
thank you.The instinct behind
that advice was to disrupt the

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00:15:42,429 --> 00:15:45,800
fear response, but it doesn't really work,

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00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,946
because you're still relating to the
audience as a threat to be managed.

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00:15:49,946 --> 00:15:53,221
The amygdala is not fooled that easily.

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00:15:53,221 --> 00:16:00,288
What does help-and neuroscience is very
clear on this-is curiosity.

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Curiosity.

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00:16:00,288 --> 00:16:02,134
So instead of,
"They're going to eat me," it's,

293
00:16:02,134 --> 00:16:06,468
"Who are these people?"Curiosity and fear
do not coexist comfortably

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00:16:06,468 --> 00:16:07,238
in the brain.

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00:16:07,238 --> 00:16:10,438
They compete for the same territory.

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00:16:10,438 --> 00:16:13,153
When you become genuinely curious,

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00:16:13,153 --> 00:16:16,504
you activate dopamine-driven reward
circuits.

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00:16:16,504 --> 00:16:20,019
Dopamine sharpens your attention,

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00:16:20,019 --> 00:16:25,181
enhances learning, and opens up the very
kind of associative thinking

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00:16:25,181 --> 00:16:29,890
the DMN thrives on.

301
00:16:25,181 --> 00:16:29,890
So curiosity is like switching the brain
to a different

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00:16:29,890 --> 00:16:30,320
mode.

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00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,514
Same brain, different story.

304
00:16:32,514 --> 00:16:35,509
Instead of "What if this goes wrong?" it
becomes "Ooh,

305
00:16:35,509 --> 00:16:38,690
what might happen here?"That's a lovely
way to put it.

306
00:16:38,690 --> 00:16:40,528
But there's a subtlety.

307
00:16:40,528 --> 00:16:45,658
If you say to yourself, "I wonder how my
idea will land," you've left

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00:16:45,658 --> 00:16:46,838
the back door open.

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00:16:46,838 --> 00:16:50,876
The DMN,
with its fondness for dark stories,

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00:16:50,876 --> 00:16:53,074
may supply, "Terribly.

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00:16:53,074 --> 00:16:57,800
They'll hate it." And you're back in fear
land.

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00:16:53,074 --> 00:16:57,800
Yes,

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00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:59,449
my brain would absolutely do that.

314
00:16:59,449 --> 00:17:03,129
"I wonder if they'll like me." "No."
Brilliant,

315
00:17:03,129 --> 00:17:08,059
thank you very much.

316
00:17:03,129 --> 00:17:08,059
The trick is to frame your curiosity so
it can only

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00:17:08,059 --> 00:17:11,121
travel forward, not downwards.

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00:17:11,121 --> 00:17:15,596
You ask questions that have no negative
answer.

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00:17:15,596 --> 00:17:18,875
For example, as you walk into the room,

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00:17:18,875 --> 00:17:22,700
you might say to yourself,
"This is going to be fun.

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00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:25,737
I can't wait to show them this," or,

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00:17:25,737 --> 00:17:30,684
"I wonder which part they'll find most
surprising," or,

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00:17:30,684 --> 00:17:35,601
"Who's going to be the first person to
nod?"I love the "first person

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00:17:35,601 --> 00:17:36,298
to nod" one.

325
00:17:36,298 --> 00:17:38,155
It turns it into a tiny game.

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00:17:38,155 --> 00:17:39,908
Your brain's scanning the room like,

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00:17:39,908 --> 00:17:41,151
"Ooh, there, that person!

328
00:17:41,151 --> 00:17:43,654
Mini victory."Exactly.

329
00:17:43,654 --> 00:17:46,004
Those aren't cheesy affirmations,

330
00:17:46,004 --> 00:17:48,796
they're directions for your DMN.

331
00:17:48,796 --> 00:17:52,823
You're saying,
"Look for connection," instead of,

332
00:17:52,823 --> 00:17:58,342
"Scan for danger." Your body is already
in that expressive,

333
00:17:58,342 --> 00:18:04,870
standing state; curiosity helps keep fear
from hijacking it.

334
00:17:58,342 --> 00:18:04,870
So instead

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00:18:04,870 --> 00:18:07,598
of building a horror film,
it builds a kind of adventure story.

336
00:18:07,598 --> 00:18:10,152
And my body, which is already standing,

337
00:18:10,152 --> 00:18:11,650
moving, breathing more deeply,

338
00:18:11,650 --> 00:18:15,977
gets to be part of that story instead of
fighting it.

339
00:18:11,650 --> 00:18:15,977
Yes.

340
00:18:15,977 --> 00:18:20,849
Your body is already doing a lot of the
work for you the moment you stand

341
00:18:20,849 --> 00:18:21,089
up.

342
00:18:21,089 --> 00:18:24,525
The Whiteboard Effect is on your side.

343
00:18:24,525 --> 00:18:30,106
Your only real job is to stop letting
fear sneak in through the back

344
00:18:30,106 --> 00:18:33,777
door and hijack the system.

345
00:18:30,106 --> 00:18:33,777
Alright,

346
00:18:33,777 --> 00:18:37,237
Chef, let's land this with recipes people
can actually use tomorrow.

347
00:18:37,237 --> 00:18:39,792
Because we've all got chairs,
we've all got meetings.

348
00:18:39,792 --> 00:18:45,092
What are the simple Whiteboard Effect
habits?

349
00:18:39,792 --> 00:18:45,092
Let's keep it very simple.

350
00:18:45,092 --> 00:18:50,121
First: the next time you're stuck at your
desk-cursor blinking,

351
00:18:50,121 --> 00:18:53,832
mind empty-don't grind harder.

352
00:18:53,832 --> 00:18:54,988
Stand up.

353
00:18:54,988 --> 00:18:57,465
Take a five or ten-minute walk.

354
00:18:57,465 --> 00:19:01,658
But give your brain a seed,
a clear question.

355
00:19:01,658 --> 00:19:06,093
Something like,
"What's the real question here?" or,

356
00:19:06,093 --> 00:19:13,653
"What if this were easy?" Then let it go
and walk.

357
00:19:06,093 --> 00:19:13,653
Second: walking meetings.

358
00:19:13,653 --> 00:19:18,004
If it's a one-to-one or a small group and
it's practical,

359
00:19:18,004 --> 00:19:20,640
make it a walk instead of a sit.

360
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:27,163
You'll often get more honest conversation
and more original ideas.

361
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:27,163
Third:

362
00:19:27,163 --> 00:19:31,083
if you've got a presentation or even an
interview coming up,

363
00:19:31,083 --> 00:19:34,561
rehearse the state, not just the content.

364
00:19:34,561 --> 00:19:38,792
Before you go in, stand up, move a little,

365
00:19:38,792 --> 00:19:40,152
breathe.

366
00:19:40,152 --> 00:19:45,770
Then ask yourself one or two of those
curiosity questions: "Who's going

367
00:19:45,770 --> 00:19:51,999
to be the first to nod?" "What might
surprise them?" Let that be the story

368
00:19:51,999 --> 00:19:56,903
your DMN starts to tell.

369
00:19:51,999 --> 00:19:56,903
So we're not trying to become fearless.

370
00:19:56,903 --> 00:20:00,893
We're trying to become more curious than
afraid.

371
00:19:56,903 --> 00:20:00,893
Beautifully said.

372
00:20:00,893 --> 00:20:03,249
Great speakers are not fearless.

373
00:20:03,249 --> 00:20:04,767
They're curious.

374
00:20:04,767 --> 00:20:11,858
And they've learned to aim that curiosity
somewhere fear can't follow.

375
00:20:04,767 --> 00:20:11,858
Alright,

376
00:20:11,858 --> 00:20:13,205
I feel a challenge coming on.

377
00:20:13,205 --> 00:20:15,980
If you're listening to this on your
commute or at your desk,

378
00:20:15,980 --> 00:20:17,257
here's our invitation.

379
00:20:17,257 --> 00:20:19,312
Sometime in the next few days,

380
00:20:19,312 --> 00:20:21,785
pick one real problem or decision in your
life.

381
00:20:21,785 --> 00:20:24,084
It could be work, it could be personal.

382
00:20:24,084 --> 00:20:26,510
Instead of tackling it hunched over a
screen,

383
00:20:26,510 --> 00:20:29,869
stand up.

384
00:20:26,510 --> 00:20:29,869
Grab a notebook, a whiteboard,

385
00:20:29,869 --> 00:20:31,738
the back of an envelope-whatever you've
got.

386
00:20:31,738 --> 00:20:36,475
At the top, write "What if we..." or "What
if I..." and the question that

387
00:20:36,475 --> 00:20:37,079
matters.

388
00:20:37,079 --> 00:20:39,087
Then spend ten minutes standing,

389
00:20:39,087 --> 00:20:41,130
moving your arm, sketching possibilities.

390
00:20:41,130 --> 00:20:42,187
No polishing.

391
00:20:42,187 --> 00:20:42,907
No judging.

392
00:20:42,907 --> 00:20:47,174
Just letting the engine run.

393
00:20:42,907 --> 00:20:47,174
And notice how it feels.

394
00:20:47,174 --> 00:20:50,132
Not just whether you get a solution,

395
00:20:50,132 --> 00:20:52,132
but how your mind moves.

396
00:20:52,132 --> 00:20:55,486
The lightness, the playfulness,

397
00:20:55,486 --> 00:20:57,482
the way ideas connect.

398
00:20:57,482 --> 00:21:02,836
That's your body and brain remembering
that they're one system,

399
00:21:02,836 --> 00:21:06,455
not separate departments.

400
00:21:02,836 --> 00:21:06,455
The ideas are there.

401
00:21:06,455 --> 00:21:08,373
They were never the problem.

402
00:21:08,373 --> 00:21:13,974
Sometimes we simply have to stand up to
find them.

403
00:21:08,373 --> 00:21:13,974
On that note,

404
00:21:13,974 --> 00:21:14,914
Chef, thank you.

405
00:21:14,914 --> 00:21:18,247
And folks, there is a full blog on this
very subject on our website,

406
00:21:18,247 --> 00:21:22,617
WWW The Existential Chef dot Com.

407
00:21:18,247 --> 00:21:22,617
Thank you all for listening.

408
00:21:22,617 --> 00:21:26,526
Remember to stand up,
be a little more curious,

409
00:21:26,526 --> 00:21:30,841
and we'll see you -upright -in
the next episode.