Do you have an overstimulated mind?
We live with so much distractions nowadays. Distractions come in various forms like cultural, digital, societal, environmental and interpersonal as well. When you talk with a person and that person is talking to you and using the phone at the same time, that is distraction. When you are at work, several tasks and deadlines arrive your desk at the same time, that is distraction. When you just started your career and you wonder how to organize your life and your family try to convince you to get married fast or build your dream home, that is distraction. Also waking up in the morning and the first thing you do is checking your emails or your social media feed, that as well is distraction.
Amazingly when you start learning about your brain and how it works and functions, you realize that those distractions fill your head with so many things and prevent you from engaging in creativity and wonder. But you may think: what happens to my brain when I am faced with all those daily distractions? Well our brains have got the stimulation effect. When you use your phone or watch an episode in Netflix, it produces dopamine. The same happens when you eat donuts and then you want more. When the brain produces dopamine, it signals to you the good feeling and as a result you wanting more of that.
No wonder you want to watch more of the Shahid episodes. That’s why we keep checking our phones even when we are driving. Its the dopamine effect. If we do more of that and follow what the brain signals us to do, the brain become overstimulated. As a result the space for creativity and new ideas becomes small or minimum.
According to research and literature, to reduce the overstimulation effect in the brain, you need to first challenge yourself to minimize the daily distractions. If you use your phone most of the time throughout your day, reduce it to 30 minutes a day. If you watch four Netflix episodes in the evening, reduce it to one.
Next, reframe your thoughts about boredom. Look for things to do where you know you will be bored. For example knitting, watching and counting the ducks, walking and counting your foot steps or waiting in a longer cue line in the public. But why boredom is the key to unlock the overstimulated mind? Well interestingly the brain has got levels whether you beleive it or not. When the brain is hyped and overstimulated, it becomes cluttered and overloaded. In that case a sense of loss, not knowing what you want, not sure and stuckness fills you up. But when the brain is free from those distractions and engaged in boredom, you create space for the brain to wonder, brainstorm and come up with new ideas.
It will be definitely tough at the beginning. Especially if you got used to the daily distractions and your mind being overstimulated. It is not easy to change a habit just like that. But do it in the form of doing an experiment with your brain. Test your brain. Just see what will happen when you start challenging your brain in those areas. Notice your brain reactions. Don’t react or do anything. Just watch and sit with it. After the experiment, whether it is 2 weeks or 1 month, you would learn a lot about your brain functioning and thinking capacities.