Tick..Tick...Tick...Reboot Your Brain!
Sharp 9:00 am, I walked into my boss’s office. It was performance review time.
The entire year, I did my work well. Never late in the office. Never missed a deadline. No complaints from anyone. Nada…
I was confident.
But the boss looked at me with a cold face. He had rated me “below average.”
When I read the review, I couldn’t find any feedback or suggestions to improve.
Also, the section on “employee weaknesses” was blank.
I was shocked.
My manager always seemed to be happy with my work.
On the contrary, he always acted like an angel.
I went back to my desk.
“Below average? Me?
I had been working hard, racing against the clock. My life was my work.
But still, below average?
How can my manager do this to me?
Why did he not tell me if he wasn’t satisfied with my work?
Does he have a personal vendetta?”
— All kinds of junk thoughts cluttered my brain and subsequent vision.
I began to lose track of what I was doing.
My brain felt like a pressure cooker that would explode at any moment. These junk thoughts clouded my reasoning to such an extent that they altered my behavior.
I began to have mood swings.
I became short-tempered.
I vented out frustrations on people I loved.
Result?
People started ghosting me.
They stopped calling me to their parties.
With plenty of loneliness and no one to spend time with, I talked to myself and sought reasons for the series of unfortunate events.
Here’s what I discovered.
The Brain’s Virus We’re Ignoring
Did you put too much salt in your cooking today?
Did you forget to lock your house door behind you?
Did you not stop your car when the yellow traffic signal was on?
These are everyday situations where our brains shouldn’t have frozen. But it did.
Lack of attentiveness is a superficial answer.
The subtlety is our brain has a mechanism called selective attention, which enables us to focus on a few specific things out of the plethora of stimuli we encounter.
Selective attention consists of two parts:
Identifying significant things from the continuous flow of information
Protecting these significant elements from being overshadowed by less important pieces of information.
However, the ubiquity of smart devices poses new challenges to the brain’s selective attention process.
The excess unwanted information from social media creates an environment where we constantly alternate our attention between essential and nonessential things, causing distractions that interferes with the task at hand.
This phenomenon is referred to as “distractors.”
It’s also important to note that not all distractors have the same level of impact.
Certain events or stimuli might cause significant distractions, while others can be easily ignored.
That’s why researchers suggest giving your brain idle time to
Increase productivity
Replenish attention
Solidify memories
Encourage creativity
Here’s what I practice.
Unload Your Brain
If you’re thinking of buying new furniture, what do you do with the old stuff? Discard it, right?
Try it with your brain, too.
Don’t discard your brain; discard what’s in it.
It’s inevitable to let go of the old and wasteful thoughts to make way for new and fresh ones.
It also helps in organizing creative ideas.
Judy Willis MD, a neurologist, and former classroom teacher, explains:
“The dumping process increases the brain’s focus, induces long-term memory, gives the brain time to reflect on conceptual development by stimulating the highest cognition.”
Whenever my brain is clogged and cluttered, I write. I write a journal.
I wrote a blog in between, but my typing speed was so low that my brain couldn’t dump faster.
So, I switched back to my traditional diary writing.
Trust me; it’s the most liberating experience one can ever have.
Dumping the brain is like confessing.
Penning down the troubling thoughts is like venting out frustration.
I started this activity as an experiment, but now it’s my hobby.
When I dump my brain on paper, I feel that my hands transfer data at Usain Bolt’s speed.
And after decluttering everything, I feel like a winner.
If you try this technique, you’ll sleep a lot better because your brain has stopped processing the daily activities’ garbage information.
Soak Your Brain in Water
Did I say, “Soak your brain”?
Yes, I did.
You might be thinking, “Is my brain chia seeds or sago seeds that need to be soaked?”
But our brains and water have a direct relationship when dealing with overthinking.
Scientists have proven that we can use water as a potential treatment for dealing with stress.
Balneotherapy is a treatment that involves massaging and relaxing the body by using pressurized cold or hot water.
I tried to replicate it at home through hot/cold showers and by dipping my body in a Jacuzzi.
Both worked equally well.
I realized that cleansing the body through this element of nature decluttered the brain.
I felt rejuvenated.
I felt energized.
And creative thoughts started flooding my brain to get going with full enthusiasm.
My productivity escalated like a rocket launching in space.
Experiment with it.
Unplug Your Brain to Reconnect
Being a writer, I am married to screens. I write, edit and read on screens.
Often I’d get sucked into the virtual blackhole.
LinkedIn? Check.
Twitter? Check.
Medium? Check.
Emails? Check.
The last thing I knew was I lost an hour.
More importantly, I felt exhausted.
No energy to work anymore.
No focus.
No creativity.
A major chunk of my thoughts was:
Who’s doing what?
Who’s got the latest iPhone? Which one should I buy?
Who has the latest PS5? Why is it on back order, etc.?
Which car should I buy? (The list goes on…)
That’s why I began disconnecting from the virtual world from time to time.
I limited my social media apps from ten to two. (I will talk about my relationship with smartphones it in the coming newsletter…stay tuned!)
I put my phone on DND and in a different room while working.
To make myself engaged in that leisure time, I ordered origami kits and adult coloring books.
I began carrying a book or two with me everywhere I went.
My digital consumption and screen usage reduced drastically.
I reinforced reward systems to stay on track.
Muscle-Up Your Brain’s Flexibility
Exercise strengthens your brain.
Research at the University of Adelaide shows that thirty minutes of exercise improves memory and increases the brain’s learning ability.
Whenever I feel clustered with a lot of thoughts, I exercise.
Without further ado, I “switch ON” my workout mode.
The heavy lifting and the cardio exercises make my brain elastic again to think without any chaos.
The #1 Brain Healer Everyone Has Access To
There’s scientific evidence that spending time amidst nature infuses the brain with positive and creative ideas.
I didn’t believe it until I experimented with it.
Some time ago, I had a dispute with my officemate, Craig (name changed), working in the purchasing department. He forgot to approve of my work. This delay halted the part production at the manufacturing facility.
Though it wasn’t my fault, he made me the scapegoat. This false accusation annoyed me. I couldn’t focus on my work.
So, I decided to drive to the mountains (fifty minutes drive from my home).
Spending some time in solitude amidst the mountains cleared my head. I felt light. I felt energized.
The pure vibrations of nature convinced me to move on in life by forgiving.
On my way home, my brain was so relaxed and pumped up that I forgot my frustration.
I am so blessed to live amidst the mountains. So, whenever I can’t find myself productive or focused, nature is my best getaway destination.
The Rocky Mountains and lakes’ scenic beauty helps me clear my head and get a fresh perspective.
If you have a lake, forest, park, or beach near you, allow nature to reboot your brain.
Drown the Brain in Music
Whenever I am sad or confused, I listen to Om Chanting. It’s like meditation for me.
I am now so used to rewiring my brain through “Om” chants that I often play them in the background while working. It reduces the traffic of my thoughts, and I can think without any confusion.
A research study published at the National Institutes of Health states that Om chanting soothes and stimulates the brain’s vagus nerve, which is responsible for our stress.
After reading this research, I began to play Om chanting at my home 24/7.
If you come to my house and hear a humming sound, don’t be surprised or confused.
However, there is a wide variety of music that can help you increase your focus.
UCLA’s Neurologists have curated some songs that can increase your concentration power by 15%.
So, try the power of music to restore your brain’s ability to think better.
If rebooting your electronic devices can prevent them from crashing, this is your brain. How can you let it freeze?
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Love and respect, ❤️
Darshak Rana
Missed my last newsletter on “The Greatest Misconception about procrastination most people have“?
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