How to Reboot Your Brain by Doing Less
Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis on Unsplash
It’s the middle of the summer, and I need a break.
I want to slow down and be quiet. Luckily, I am finding my clients feel the same way. Summertime schedules tend to be more flexible and move at a slower pace. However, this year, I notice I need more than just a change of pace; what I really need is to do nothing. I think it’s a response to my busy schedule the first six months of this year. I have taken two trips recently, so it’s not like I haven’t had an opportunity to rest. There’s more behind just needing to enjoy the summer pace and slow down a bit.
Time to reboot.
As I reflect on the desire to take a pause, I remember the “reboot” experience I participated in last fall for about six weeks. My dear friend and founder of iGnite Your Life Now, Neissa Springman, facilitated our sessions. Each week she gave us an assignment, and we discussed our experience the following week. One of the assignments was not to check emails or social media an hour upon rising and an hour before going to bed. The results were incredible! I’ve kept that practice, and I’m also watching less TV. I’m sleeping better, I’m calmer at the beginning of the day, and I am less stressed. Neissa also encouraged the group to read the book, Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari. I’m finally reading it, and I’m blown away by the research and the confronting results.
It’s beginning to make sense to me why I’m feeling like I want to hibernate.
A few statistics Hari notes in his book:
The average American spends 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones daily.
We touch our phones 2,617 times every 24 hours.
In a study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard, worker IQ was measured without distraction and then with email and phone call distractions. IQ dropped for distracted workers by an average of 10 points.
The average CEO of a Fortune 500 company gets just 28 minutes of uninterrupted time daily.
Another finding: there is no such thing as “multi-tasking.”
That term was actually meant for computers. When we think we are doing two things at once, we are really just switching back and forth. It takes the brain some time to remember what the first task was and get focused on picking up where we left off. We are actually spending more time and energy when we “multi-task” under the guise of saving time. We also make more mistakes and spend extra time correcting them.
According to Hari, our brains are not designed to take in all the information available through our phones, the internet and social media. The ultimate result is that we are losing the ability to focus. Everything is harder when I can’t focus. This is why I feel the need to hibernate and do nothing; I am aware that if I’m not careful, I get overwhelmed and overloaded. While technology benefits us in so many ways, it can come at a great cost. We will never catch up, see it all, read it all or know all the latest information. It’s up to us to accept our functional limitations and make choices that serve our overall wellness.
We have to make the choice to develop new habits.
I’m committed to starting my day without looking at my phone, turning on the TV or checking email. I’m continuing to end my day without screens to calm my brain down so I can sleep well. It’s not always easy because I habitually want to reach for my phone; I have to literally put it in another room so I won’t be tempted. The world around me is not going to start sending less information. It’s up to me to commit to creating habits that build greater focus, more calm and lots of joy! I invite you to experiment with this practice for one week. Let me know how it goes!
Signing off,
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