Choosing Boredom

[Environment and foods for cognitive restoration]

“Brain rot” was chosen as the word of the year, describing the American culture’s addiction to our mindless entertainment and extremely limited attention span. “Braindead” is a common term for slow cognitive function or mental exhaustion among my friends. This was never a problem in past cultures that thrived in their closeness with nature and weren’t constantly entertained. I’m one of those people who thinks being trapped in an empty room would be fun because my imagination never ends. There was a time when I even craved that but didn’t understand why. The complete lack of visually entertaining stimuli would have allowed me to think without distraction and the silence would have eventually reached in and ended the “monkey chatter” in my head. It would have been an opportunity to be bored. Boredom is not the absence of creative thought, it's the absence of external, entertaining stimuli. Choosing an environment that isn’t mentally stimulating allows us to both focus our creativity and increase our mental capacity, making a noticeable difference in our focus and productivity… for everything. I understand how devices are a necessary tool for learning today, but they aren’t necessary for entertainment. It has been proven again and again that going outside to clear our heads works and even restores tired minds, but if we want to be free of being “braindead” on a regular basis we need to take that a step farther!

• Leave devices in the house. 

Even listening to music or a youtube video during the time we need to clear out heads is detrimental. A walk spent listening to a podcast will not have any of the benefits of silence and fresh air. 

“In 2016, she [Rachel Hopman] led a study that found something as painless as a 20-minute stroll through a city park, like the one we’re in right now, can cause profound changes in the neurological structure of our brains. This leaves us feeling calmer and with sharper and more productive, creative minds. “But,” she said, “we found that people who used their cellphone on the walk saw none of those benefits.”... In nature your brain enters a mode Hopman called “soft fascination.” It’s similar to unfocused mode—but with one key difference. “Instead of mind-wandering and lightly focusing inwardly, you're lightly focusing outwardly on the nature around you… Your attention network is turned down…” Brain scans show that soft fascination is a lot like meditation. Hopman described it as a mindfulness-like state that restores and builds the resources we need to think, create, process information, and execute tasks… Of course, a walk in the woods only becomes mind medicine so long as the phone is away and also not beaming information into our ears.” —Michel Easter, The Comfort Crisis (pg. 116 - 117) 

• Limit screen time to what’s necessary.

That craving of mindless entertainment can be broken just like any other, but it’s hard and takes a lot of discipline. Scrolling and feeding my mind long after my focus has dwindled is detrimental because I lull myself into a state of headache and senseless brain chatter. I have to make a list of what needs to be done on a device before I turn it on so that I remember to manage my time on it. If you want entertainment, use your creativity in the real world, and live!

• Foods that supports brain health. 

Dr. John Raymond Christopher (a pioneer in herbalism and natural healing through diet) said in the 2000s people are going to be the most physically and mentally ill yet. A significant amount of what we eat goes toward restoring our brain and enabling cognitive processes. Along with supporting our physical energy needs we need to support cognitive function with foods rich in omega 3 fatty-acids, minerals and natural oils that aren’t in our common carb and protein filled meals! This includes:

• Organic seeds and nuts, either sprouted or lightly cooked

• Natural fats like butter, coconut cream, nut butters

• Oils (not seeds oils) like olive, avocado, and coconut

• Avocados

• Wild caught fish

• Organic whole grains 

When I overwork my brain and want to recover my mental stamina, I crave naturally fatty foods and add a scoop of cold coconut cream or fat bombs to my snack (an even mix of peanut butter and cream cheese, chilled and rolled in chia seeds!)

• Adjust visually stimulating living spaces. 

Visual overload when we’re studying drags our attention in every direction, just like scrolling through ads when we’re trying to understand an article being read. Sort through clutter, remove extra decorations, and turn off unused devices! (Especially at night so the wifi and bluetooth doesn’t wear on your nervous system when it’s trying to heal)

• Choose boredom. 

When we’re creative and constantly thinking even our free time feels like it needs to be mentally productive, it doesn’t. Choose quiet, choose what’s mentally un

-stimulating, choose to not be entertained constantly. You can scribble in a lined notebook with a dying pen while lying on the carpet in the evenings and let your mind wander until it’s cleared. You’re allowed to live without a screen and heal after using one.