Giving your brain a
break restores attention, encourages productivity and is essential to achieve
our highest levels of performance.
Have you noticed that lately, you have the
attention span of a goldfish? According to a study by Microsoft, the
average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds (yes, goldfish
are believed to have an attention span of 9 seconds)—a decrease from the
average attention span of 12 seconds almost 20 years ago. More distressing is
the fact that a newly recognized disorder called attention deficit trait (ADT) is
reaching epidemic proportions in the workplace. Marked by agitation,
distractibility and impatience, ADT prevents employees from making intelligent
decisions, setting priorities and managing their time. The cause of these
phenomena? Human beings are bombarded with too much information.
Information overload is a major problem for
society today. The onslaught of new content being created and disseminated
daily via the Internet is overwhelming. So much so that Mitchell Kapor, the
founder of Lotus Development Corporation who designed the “killer application”
Lotus 1-2-3, is famously quoted as saying that “getting information off the
Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” According to psychologist
and attention expert Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D., author of Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and
Overload, information overload can cause
forgetfulness, fatigue and difficulty with focus. Not only that but some sources estimate
that your brain makes up to 35,000 decisions a day, leading to mental fatigue.
The increased stress and anxiety we feel from trying to process too much
information in today’s hyper-connected world is undeniable.
With email and social media following us
wherever we go, it’s more important than ever to let our brains take a break.
According to Hortense le Gentil, author of the upcoming book Aligned: Connecting Your True Self
with the Leader You’re Meant to Be, “Breaks allow
you to check in with yourself and refuel. Checking in helps you align with
yourself as you step back, get some distance, remind yourself of your 'why,'
and examine whether your thoughts, your words and your actions are congruent.”
Gentil offers three valuable tips to reclaim mental space in your daily life so
you can make room for your intuition and stay connected with your aligned self.
Harness energy
What gives you energy? One of Gentil’s clients
learned to take breathers between meetings, allowing herself to sit down for a
bit and have a coffee on her way back to the office. Alternatively, perhaps
listening to music for a few minutes works for you. Other options include
stepping out of the office to walk and clear your head, talking to a friend,
writing in a journal or reading a good book.
Practice mindfulness
An effective way to refuel and reclaim mental
space is to suspend the past and future and stand in the present moment. This
ability to bring yourself back to the present is known as mindfulness.
Mindfulness and other forms of meditation have been scientifically proven to be
among the most effective techniques to reclaim that headspace. This is why many
tech firms in Silicon Valley often start meetings with a few minutes of silence.
It gives everyone in the room a chance to clear their heads and focus. But like
anything else, the ability to stand in the present at will is a skill that
requires practice. Google started encouraging its staff to attend mindful
meditation training as early as 2007, and the practice has now spread far
beyond Silicon Valley to traditional Fortune 500 companies such as Goldman
Sachs and General Mills.
Embrace meditation
Meditation has been shown to result in
profound changes in brain structure over time, strengthening areas associated
with emotional control, memory, introspection, attention and abstract thought.
When your brain takes a break, it doesn’t stop working. Instead, it allows many
mental processes to take place—just as essential physiological processes take
place while you sleep. It makes space for the more intuitive part of your mind.
Some of you may be sighing right now. “Meditation? Really?” But before you visualize
yourself wearing a robe and burning incense, just know that mindfulness does
not necessarily require you to sit in the lotus position for hours. It merely
means to be present, fully aware of what you are doing—whether you are cooking,
listening to music, walking or staring at the ceiling. All you need to do is
focus on something other than your thoughts. It can be your breath or the
sights or sounds around you.
Mindfulness techniques in action
One of Gentil’s clients cultivated mindfulness
by going fishing, focusing on the sound of the wind rushing in the trees, the
gentle ripple of the water and his fishing line flying through the air. Another
chose to listen to music, focusing on each instrument and the variations in the
vocalist’s voice. Steve Jobs was famous for doing much of his creative thinking
while taking walks. Inventor Thomas Edison’s intuitive insights came to him
when he was hovering between sleep and wakefulness. Albert Einstein and
Salvador Dali also regularly wandered between sleep and full consciousness, a
space where the linear and analytical part of their minds relaxed their grip,
allowing intuition to flourish.
Research shows that even when we are relaxing
or daydreaming, the brain does not really slow down or stop working. Cerebral downtime
actually restores attention and motivation, encourages productivity and
creativity and is essential to achieve our highest levels of performance. So
next time you feel guilty for sitting around "doing nothing," just
remember that you're doing something positive for your brain.
Note: A previous version of this post stated
that the human attention span decreases by 88% per year. The statistic had been
misinterpreted, and the post has since been updated.
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