The best architectural decision I made last year was made on a footpath, an hour from the office, with no pen on me.
There's a particular kind of thinking that doesn't happen at a desk. It needs movement, and it needs your hands to be doing nothing. The desk is for execution. Most of the decisions worth making are not execution problems.
I walk most evenings now. Sometimes with an audiobook, more often without. The goal isn't fitness or even clarity — it's just to give the difficult problem of the week somewhere to go that isn't a Slack thread.
The desk is for execution. Most of the decisions worth making are not execution problems.
If you're stuck on something hard at work this week, try walking away from it for an hour. You'll often come back with the answer you were trying to think your way into.