Are you suffering from mind wandering deficit

Are you suffering from mind wandering deficitAre you suffering from mind wandering deficitHow often do you let yur mindwander?Your brain may be your most precious resource, and you are only using a small portion of its capacity.We confuse being always on with being productive.But, busyness doesnt make you prolific?- ?it just keeps your mind working. You are pushing the engine to the limit, but bedrngnis getting its full power.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraJonathan Schooler, a professor of brain sciences at the University of California is concerned about this growing syndromeIn the same way we can experience a sleep deficit, I think we can experience a mind-wandering deficit.Mind-wandering deprivation can be as harmful as lack of sleep. Your brain needs to rest from time to time?- ?thats how you connect the dots.Everyone can benefit from idle time, not just creatives.Great idea s show up unexpectedly. The best solutions occur in a moment of sudden revelation, not when your brain is busy.Reframe your relationship withboredomTime is our most irreplaceable asset.?- ?Ryan HolidayYou probably find it difficult to do absolutely nothing. Most of us do. Idle time makes us feel guilty?- ?like we are wasting our most irreplaceable asset.If we feel bored, its someone elses fault. We believe that boredom depends on external stimulation. Something has to entertain us?- ?someone else has to save us from being bored.Astudyfound that?- ?regardless of income or race?- ?parents believed that if children get bored after school, theyshouldenroll them in extracurricular activities.In the age of overparenting, we go to the extreme to keep our children busy. Every free moment should be optimized or maximized.As Pamela Paul wrote in her pieceLet Children Get Bored Again,Parents preparing for a long car ride or airplane trip are like Army officers plotting a complicated land maneu ver. Which movies to load onto the iPad? Should we start a new family-friendly podcast? Is this an O.K. time to let the kids play Fortnite until their brains melt into the back seat?Our society sees idle time as a waste of time. Thats why we embrace busyness?- ?we escape boredom by running from one activity to another.Psychologists used to view mind-wandering as useless. But, recent studies are confirming that it is a vital and healthy parte of our lives.Boredom is not a condition but a state of mind.Theres a difference between being bored and experiencing boredom.Boredom is a clean slate to be experienced. Being bored, on the other hand, is escapism?- ?you are avoiding yourself and the world around you.You feel bored because, deep inside yourself, you know you can give more. Boredom is a painful reminder of your unused potential. Its a disconnection to everything we can offer the world and vice versa.Boredom is a powerful tool?- ?it invites you to rethink your relationship with the world. Idle time is not dull but an opportunity for appreciation and learning.Thats why time seems to pass slowly for young kids. As Bob Clagett describes in his bookMaking Time,time slows down when we face new experiences or visit new places.The world is a fascinating place?- ?full of new perceptions, experiences, and thoughts. Childrenare curiousand make the best out of idle time.Boredom is something to experience rather than to run away from it.Instead of complaining, do something that doesnt require much brain activity. Go out for a walk ordo the dishes. Let your mind wander.Unexpected things happen when youstop fighting boredom.Your brain needs idletimeThe research on learning is clear?- ?study for a while and then unwind.The mind cant hold attention for more than 10 minutes?- ?your short-term memory gets filled quickly. Neuroscientistsrecommendto let our brain forget something we learned.Your brain needs to create necessary connections to remember information.Aspaced approach results in better learning. Distributing a fixed amount of teaching hours over a more extended period is more effective than delivering the same content within a shorter time.Take a break to digest new material?- ?and get back to it later.As Loren Frank, a professor at the University of California, explains, The brain needs free time to process new information and turn it into something more permanent.Allow the right idea to find its moment.The deeper reflective states happen when our mind is not busy. Idle time allows us to make meaning out of unrelated facts?- ?we connect the dots and create a coherent narrative.Columbia scientistshave identified how the aha moment works?- ?that flash when you suddenly become aware of an idea, such as discovering the answer to a difficult question.The study suggests that this process shares the same underlying brain mechanisms involved in making simpler decisions.The vast majority of thoughts circling in our brains happen below the radar of consci ous awareness, meaning that even though our brain is processing them, we are not aware, said Michael Shadlen, a researcher at Columbia UniversityThe most complex thoughts that the menschenwrdig brain can experience?- ?such as love, grief, or guilt?- ?can be boiled down to a series of unconscious decisions.Thats how our mind engages with the outside world.Dr. Shadlen found that, when making a challenging decision, the brain doesnt use all the available information. This is not because it cant, but because it already has all the information it needs.How many times, are you focusing on something else and, all of a sudden, you feel that you made up your mind? This occurs when an accumulation of evidence reaches a threshold?- ?thats when the Aha moment occurs.The researchers scientifically validated that theEureka effectis an accurate reflection of the brain reaching a decision.At a certain point, the brain says,enough is enough.Go slow to gofastDress me slowly, Im in a hurry.?- ?Napoleo n BonaparteOur culture is addicted to many things but mainly to speed, anything new, and disruption.In this rush to accelerate performance and speed, it is easy to lose perspective.When we move too fast, we often miss what we need to see. Mind-wandering gives us perspective?- ?especially during complex and challenging situations.Abraham Lincolns famously said, Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.Speeding up isnt always the answer.In fact, McKinseyfoundthat when top teams slow down, they achieve their objectives more quickly. They deal more effectively with increased complexity and challenges?- ?and they use less energy.When solving complex problems, learn to pace the speed of your work. Realize when you need to slow down. There are moments for deeper understanding and reflection. You can speed up elsewhere.Roman Emperor Augustus adopted the Latin mottoFestina Lente?- ?make haste, slowly. It was a reminder that he had to perform dut ies with a proper balance of urgency and diligence.Be fast to implement but dont precipitate your decisions.There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but always enough time to do itover.Special forces like Navy SEAL are trained to slow down in dangerous situations. They practice each movement and task over and over?- ?until they get it right. Mistakes can be expensive and jeopardize the mission.Our brain is wise?- ?mind-wandering reminds us that time is not fixed but flexible.Bob Clagett research shows that time slows down when we are involved in accidents or crises?- ?those situations demand quick thinking but to act with caution.Slow down to go fast.Let your mindwanderMany people find it difficult or stressful to do absolutely nothing. We are used to be in control. Mind-wandering feels like a waste of our most irreplaceable asset?- ?our time.Learn to let go. Trust your brain. All the body functions work perfectly without your intervention?- ?even when you sleep.Get out of the way. Allow your mind to do what it does best.Go for a walk. Make room for idle time. Dont force Aha moments?- ?your brain will tell you whenenough is enough.This article originally appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people