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Steve Jobs Swore the 10-Minute Rule Made Him Smarter. Modern Neuroscience Is Discovering He Was Right

Jessica Stillman
4 min readOct 15, 2024

Say you’re facing a difficult problem at work, and even though you’ve been sitting at your desk for the last 10 minutes straining your brain to think of a solution, you’re still coming up blank.

What do you do?

If you happened to be Steve Jobs, the answer to this question would be simple. You’d stand up and go for a walk.

“Taking a long walk was his preferred way to have a serious conversation,” reports Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson. “So much of our time together was spent quietly walking,” recalled legendary designer Jony Ives. Read any profile or book on Jobs, and you’ll find he spends a great deal of it padding around, much of it barefoot.

Jobs’s constant roaming wasn’t just about a love of the outdoors or physical exercise. The late Apple boss intuited something that neuroscience is now proving — walking makes your brain work a little bit better, helping you crack problems that stumped you while sitting.

That’s why at least one modern neuroscientist recommends we all make like Jobs and follow the 10-minute rule: If you haven’t solved a tough mental problem after 10 minutes of trying, stand up and go for a walk.

Your brain isn’t like a…

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Jessica Stillman
Jessica Stillman

Written by Jessica Stillman

Top Inc.com columnist/ Editor/ Ghostwriter. Book lover. Travel fiend. Nap enthusiast. https://jessicastillman.com/

Responses (46)

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Walking provides HUGE benefits! I've lost count of how many times I've been able to come up with solutions to whatever problems I might be facing, simply by pondering them while on my daily weekday walks. I'm a firm believer that I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for these walks.

Sorry Jessica, neuroscience before Steve Jobs already knew that. Don't just google it - go to libraries too. Makes you smart!

The brain’s like a loose spring—push too hard, and it jams up.
A quick 10-minute walk lets ideas flow when we’re stuck.
Next time you’re stumped, step away instead of pushing through—it might spark the answer!