Hi , hope Jan is treating you well.

I've been thinking a lot about silence lately.

Mainly because I find myself experiencing less and less of it.

Like many of you, my life is filled endlessly with Spotify, podcasts, YouTube and people who don't seem to own headphones on the train next to me (literally right now...)

But I notice this as a fault in myself -

And that what I seem to want - less and less - is being with my own thoughts...

The desire to listen, watch, cram my brain with whatever I can is so strong that I might only find a few minutes a day that are totally silent.

I know I’m not the only one, and I just want to wonder out loud why that is.

Reasons against silence:

1. Because there are a lot of interesting, entertaining and enjoyable things to listen to or watch
2. Because I want to change my state into one of higher energy or focus
3. Because I want to get out of my head
4. Because I'm bored
5. Because silence makes me feel uncomfortable

Maybe one, or a few of these match for you.

The question is:

So what?

Isn't that fine?

And the answer is, sadly, no.

It's really not fine.

Because without silence, we cannot think properly.

Attention is a limited resource, and if we're focussed on one thing, we cannot focus on another (very well).

Try holding a conversation with someone when you hear someone else say your name from across the room.

You can't.

(This is called the Cocktail Party Effect)

It demonstrates very well that attention is a finite resource.

After my head injury I learnt really learnt this the hard way.

I was really upset by noise.

Everything felt louder, echoed around my brain, and caused me to lose what poor attempt at focus I could cultivate.

The problem is, you don't have to have a head injury to feel this.

It just helps to highlight the problem.

We know quite a lot about how the brain works. How to think, how to think faster and focus better.

But, what we're less sure about is:

Where do our thoughts come from?

Thoughts are our creativity.

They give us new ideas to solve problems.

We may get them in sleep, or daydreaming (which is basically sleeping awake)

Now I realise that I'm not saying anything groundbreaking here.

You might be thinking:

I know all of this, what are you trying to say?

But really, all I'm trying to say is:

How much time do you really give yourself to hear nothing?

And this doesn't mean reading, or when you're working.

I mean truly just being in your thoughts.

When you're chopping veg, putting the bins out, walking back from work.

How long?

You might be surprised how little it is.

Imagine if your mind gave you its version of Spotify Wrapped...

Would you be surprised if it was less than two hours a day?

Anyway.

I'm not here to soap box about how great I am for making time for silence (trust me!).

I’m here to say that there’s something really amazing about approaching silence deliberately, rather than accidentally.

Making time for silence, rather than being attacked by it.

...

...

...

Ever wondered why shower thoughts are so strong?

• It's one of the last bastions of active silence where we're in a good head space.
• The heat, cleansing nature, and silence.
• A recipe for active, low-stress thinking.

So...

A habit for you to try. If you think you'd benefit.

Consider a time of day, a task, a time where you always have some stimuli.

And just try, for a week, turning it all off.

(Best time of day would be in the first or last hours of your day - by the way).

Our ancestors spent their whole lives in their heads.

We're pretty used to it really...

And if something keeps coming up...

If it's too horrible

Too unpleasant to stay in your mind:

- Write down what's coming up.

- Speak to a friend, family, coach about it.

- Don't hide from it.

See how you feel.

See what ideas come to you

You'll be amazed.

Best of luck.

Live by design, not default.

James - humans BEING

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