Looking at your phone every day makes you stupid and fat? Experts recommend "doing one thing" to relax: it will take effect in 10 minutes!
High-density information stimulation makes the brain stupid, which is worse than taking drugs.
The more often you are distracted by looking at your mobile phone, the greater the risk of losing your temper? Living in an era of information explosion, there are always countless push notifications, pictures, texts, videos, and conversation notifications on 3C devices, bombarding our attention 24 hours a day. People think that the brain is good at multi-tasking, so it is always distracted in different situations to process various information. However, distraction is actually more likely to cause emotional loss, such as anger, and even temporarily degrade IQ.
“The work of the prefrontal cortex of the brain is continuous, which means that it can only handle one thing at a time… When you think you can handle these things at the same time, the brain has to switch between different nerves in a few seconds. Networks were busy switching on and off. There was a neural network listening to a colleague’s report, and another neural network thinking about the work of a subordinate.
A lot of energy is consumed between these switches - a lot of energy. Eighty clinical experiments at the University of London have further proved that the average person’s IQ will temporarily drop by about ten points under such high-density stimulation. You know, if you smoke marijuana, it will only drop by four points.” (See Sebastian Purps-Pardigol: “Why is business a matter of the brain? The science and art of leadership”)
Not just distractions, cognitive exhaustion makes people more likely to gain weight
Some scientists believe that the emergence of a large number of information technology products in the past three decades not only makes people face more frequent inattention, but may also be the reason for the epidemic of obesity. Being immersed in distracting things such as digital video, social software, and online games creates a constant cognitive overload on the body, and this overload will exhaust the ability of self-control and make people Eat more potato chips, ice cream, crispy chicken and chocolate vanilla cake.
“When we are cognitively exhausted, like an overworked muscle, tight concentration will cause our minds to become overtired. The signs of overtiredness, such as poor productivity, ease of distraction, and anger, indicate the need to The sustained mental effort of concentration has depleted the glucose needed for nervous energy.
The antidote to attention fatigue is the same as physical fatigue—rest, but what rests the mental muscles? Try to switch from strenuous activities controlled from the top down to more passive bottom-up activities, and relax in a quiet environment.” (See Daniel Goleman: “The Power of Focus”)
Spend 20-30 minutes in nature to help restore concentration and reduce cortisol
Roughly speaking, taking your attention away from things that are stressful gives your mental muscles room to rest. According to the “Attention Restoration Theory” of University of Michigan psychologist Stephen Kaplan, the most restful environment is actually nature. Contact with the sunset, waves, mountains, and waterfalls can all help us liberate ourselves from mental fatigue and free us. Restore focus and composure. It does make sense that being close to nature is good for your physical and mental health.
Research from the University of Michigan in 2019 also proved that walking in a natural environment for at least 10 minutes more than three times a week can reduce the concentration of the “stress hormone” cortisol in saliva by up to 21.3%. The research team observed that walking in nature for 20-30 minutes at a time is the most relaxing frequency. However, walking in an urban environment did not provide the same cortisol-lowering effect.
It can be seen from this that sitting in a coffee shop using a computer or looking at a mobile phone, occasionally looking up at the window to see passersby commenting on their outfits, and the next minute being shocked by LINE calls from bosses and customers, these states cannot help the mind. Muscles recover because we are still using our mindfulness to notice things that may need to be processed. This also explains why temples, monasteries and other meditation buildings are mostly set up in nature where people can fully rest and be quiet.
However, if ordinary people want to rest their attention, they do not need to live in isolation or escape to the mountains and forests to enjoy their own immersive experiences, such as mountain climbing, surfing, water play, camping, and traveling with friends. As long as you can “live completely in the present” activities, it will help restore your attention that is exhausted by the bombardment of messages on weekdays.
For the sake of brain health, put down your cell phone and laptop and walk outdoors more often.
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