Skip to main content

An idle mind may not be as bad as we think

By

"An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” is a widely used proverb. It plays the role of a hopeful catalyst to the one who has to hear about it. 

However, thrusting oneself into a host of situations that would stimulate our brain into being busy can sometimes prove inefficient. 

On a cold day, a car is often started up and left idle to regain itself from a shutdown, cold state to an active state of operation. The human mind is similar in that it is sometimes good to let the brain idle, gather our thoughts, and reflect upon our actions rather than surging forward by keeping it cluttered with work.

Neuroscientists and brain imaging specialists have run various tests, and their findings were quite interesting.

According to them, resting activity could be helping to better prime the brain to respond to future stimuli, or to maintain relationships between areas that often work together to perform tasks. It may even consolidate memories or information absorbed during normal activity. 

The brain is always at work and while we constantly fill it up with new information, it could be possible that an idle mind can give better clarity, calmer thinking, and sound decision-making.

Just like the car ready to go after a gentle idle, our brain might also deserve that idle every once in a while to collect itself and be in the best possible state to operate!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Checks and balances!

By Bamboo In The Wind
Defining a good purpose, setting a target goal and getting people working on them is usually not enough! There are too many aspects involved in getting the results we want. For example, there is an aspect of painting the big picture, working on motivation management, productivity tracking, building experimentation labs, and erecting resilient systems that systematize the workflows. Just putting bodies to work and defining milestones rarely achieves the right results. The other aspects that help march towards the milestones in an orderly manner, they are equally important. At the very least, they make objectives widely understandable and results more attainable. The job of a thought leader is to enable progress and enable recovery. Therefore, it is never enough to have just ideas. Those with ideas also have the responsibility to assemble the work environment in such a way as to create situations containing the energy disperses. Energy dispersal from lack of clarity, loss of motivation, ...
Post a Comment
Next »

Choking the communication channel.

By Bamboo In The Wind
There are instances where everything looks in order. Structures are rightly in place. Right roles are defined. Responsibilities are distributed. Bi-directional open communication is expected to take place. And with that, collective work is expected to turn out productive. Yet, when the action begins, everything breaks apart. Productivity dwindles, cooperation is missing, and ad-hoc interactions are common-place That creates chaos. No one appears in charge even though there is someone responsible. It clearly is a sign of broken communication channels. A well-orchestrated workplace focuses on methods to communicate grounds-up and top-down. It encourages patient listening, internalizing and responding rather than reacting. All effective open communication channels are a result of making such communication possible. Often, the structures are set such that you centralize communication of every bit of your activity to someone in the hierarchy. Over time it turns into a permission-based inter...
1 comment
Next »

Top up.

By Bamboo In The Wind
An effort of any kind will stop without a top-up mechanism. The cooking range doesn't work without gas. When petrol runs out, vehicles don't work. In the absence of solar panels, green energy is just a dream. Such issues apply to us humans too. Our ability to work hampers seriously if we don't have an energy replenishment plan. We think we enjoy the most when we do work involving our passions. We think tirelessly doing the same activity will keep our enthusiasm. Like writer's block, there comes a day when our ideas don't work. Monotony dries up the fun. What used to be the reason to be at work feels like the most dreaded place. When we encounter such a situation, it's time to check if our energy tank is emptying out fast enough that we need to land to refuel. Top up is a vital periodic part that recharges us. Different activities, places or people might refuel us with new energy and ideas. But first, be open to knowing you will run out of fuel. Sooner or later, ...
1 comment
Next »