Sharpening Your Mind Through Routine
I remember once that after a hard day’s work, my girlfriend and I arrived home and we asked each out about our days. “Nothing much,” we both said. The conversation ended there with both of us feeling like robots staring out into the abyss. I didn’t have anything interesting to talk about and if we watched TV it would be even worse. We wouldn’t really have much to say about the shows either.
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a routine (routines are useful after all) only to end up feeling like there’s no progress. When that happens, my mind tends to feel dull, I stutter more, I’m focused and just generally don’t feel like an interesting person.
Luckily, it isn’t too hard to feel like the smart and capable individual, it just takes a couple of “Good Ins” as I like to call them.
Good Ins are things that require focus or real attention. They shouldn’t be multi-tasked and tend to be active. TV is generally passive and ads are unbearable these days, so I wouldn’t call that a good in — but I’m willing to allow a well written show to count. A Good In is more like something that is meant to be dwelt on later, or spark a conversation. Here are 7 easy ways to put more good ins into your daily life.
- Read some nonfiction: Nonfiction is great. It broadens the range of subjects for conversation. Worry not about the guy who knows a lot about scuba, now you too have something to add! Saying “I learned this from Wikipedia” doesn’t really garner a lot of respect either. It just feels good to say “I read this book by this accomplished nonfiction writer.” A good piece of nonfiction doesn’t have to feel like reading a textbook either, there are plenty of good writers who work with nonfiction. Here are my recommendations: Michael Pollan’s Cooked or Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything are two books worth checking out.
- Cook! I will never shut up about the benefits of cooking. But cooking is also one part learning. Cooking requires a lot of patience, it creates a meal to share, and it is an activity that requires full attention. Taking some time to look up some videos and to learn some cutting techniques, frying/grilling techniques, and how to make a braise can go a long way too. The food will taste better and cooking won’t take so long.
- Take some time to watch a documentary. This has all the benefits of being like reading nonfiction, but now it’s easier to recommend to people. Shoving a book in someone’s face is the easiest way to lose friends, but nobody minds a documentary, especially one on Netflix.
- Start a thankfulness journal: I think this one really helped me out a lot. One thing I like to do is jot down a quick note of something I want to be thankful about later. Just having three things you’re thankful for in a day will make even the most mundane day seem meaningful.
- Start learning a language: This one costs a little money. Proper language learning requires good textbooks, good dictionaries, and a bit of time, but I have yet to meet a person that hasn’t expressed interests in learning a language. The resources are available and there’s no time like the present.
- Cut back on passive activities, replace them with active activities: Instead of playing games for an hour go for a walk, instead of watching TV do a couple of push ups. Finding replacements for passive activities is a good way to erase bad habits. It also gives time to think about that nonfiction.
- Do nothing for a while: I know I just said avoid passive activities, but this one is way harder than it seems. Butt two minutes of just doing nothing is worth trying once in a while. It’s hard to resist the urge to pick up my cellphone.
And there you have it. I believe that a good and happy brain is one that isn’t clogged with a lot of information coming from a million directions, something very likely to happen when spending a lot of time on the internet. By having so much to munch on, the brain ends up eating nothing, so it’s better to treat it like your stomach and at least feed it three times a day with a healthy meal.
