The Daily Thought Routine
A dedicated chair to shape thoughts, a walk to stretch them, and a page to capture them.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 83%
Jansen runs the same thought routine every morning after waking at 5am. He first gets present, then sits in a chair reserved exclusively for thinking, using no coffee, writing, or media. He changes his physiology on a couch to reshape his thoughts, exploits humans' unique ability to think about their own thoughts, then walks to stretch his thinking so he can think bigger, better, and before others. Finally he writes it all down and moves anything actionable onto his campaign boards. The dedicated physical space is load-bearing: just looking at the chair starts the process.
Origin
Jansen built a fixed morning ritual around a thinking chair at his bay window, discovering that the physical space itself became a cue so strong that merely glancing at the chair when a challenge arose would begin his thinking process.
Core principles
- 01A single-purpose physical space triggers the mental state associated with it.
- 02Changing your physiology (sitting, lying, moving) reshapes your thoughts.
- 03Walking literally stretches thinking so you think bigger and further ahead.
- 04Capture actionable thoughts immediately onto your board.
How to run it
- 1
Get present first
Before thinking, use slow breathing to drop into the now so the mind is clear.
- 2
Sit in a single-purpose thinking space
Use a chair reserved only for thinking, with no coffee, writing, reading, or screens allowed.
Pro tip Reserving the space so strictly makes the chair itself a trigger to start thinking.
- 3
Shape thoughts through physiology
Sit, lie, and move on a couch, deliberately changing your body position to reshape and examine your own thoughts.
- 4
Walk to stretch the thinking
Go for a walk to expand thoughts, aiming to think bigger, better, more, and before others do.
- 5
Capture and route
Write everything down and move anything actionable onto your Kanban campaign boards.
Pro tip Don't just record the first thought; let it sit and stretch before capturing.
In the wild
Jansen keeps a chair used for nothing but thinking. Every morning he sits there, then walks, then writes; and whenever a challenge appears, just looking at the chair starts his thinking process.
→ A reliable daily engine for developing and stretching ideas that feed his campaign boards.
Common mistakes
Capturing thoughts too early
Writing down the first thought and moving on wastes it. Letting a thought sit and stretching it extracts far more value.
Contaminating the thinking space
Using the thinking chair for coffee, reading, or media dilutes its trigger power. Keep it single-purpose.
Is it for you?
Best for
Knowledge workers and leaders who want a repeatable daily practice for deep, expansive thinking.
Not ideal for
Those unwilling to protect distraction-free time every single day.
From the transcript
“I have a thinking chair... I don't use it for anything else... it's just for thinking.”
“I go out and I walk, I walk to stretch my thoughts... I want to think bigger and I want to think better.”
From the episode
Peter Jansen: Biohacking Your Brain and Body
Peter Jansen