Don’t take life too seriously.
Neuroscience’s answer to the question of work-life balance.
In the continuous pursuit to fulfil your dreams and become the best version of yourself that you can be, people often lose sight of the here and now. Forfeiting the present for a chance of a better tomorrow.
Personally, I fill upwards of 80% of my every moment in a state of intentional mild stress. This includes working out in the morning, listening to podcasts as I shop, listening to a podcast as I cook, reading on the tube, reading before bed, working, stretching, training, writing and everything in-between. Finding that once I surpass a mental peak my cognitive clarity and mental retention suffer; creating an inverted ‘U’ shaped spike of optimal performance.
This inverted ‘U’ heuristic is exemplified in psychology as the Yerkes-Dodson Law, describing the relationship between performance and pressure.
At the beginning of the inverted ‘U’ is too little stress. With pressure being minimal a person can feel bored, under-accomplished and lethargic. At the end of the ‘U’ is too much stress, which can create anxiety impairing performance, cognitive overload and burnout.
The optimal performance lies in the centre of the ‘U’ with an equal balance of stress and relaxation.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law is clear in regard to performance, but what about mental capacity, cognitive ability and creativity?
Barbara Oakley, PHD, PE and professor of engineering at Oakland University explains the necessity for rest in her 2014 Ted Talk ‘Learning to learn’; in which she explains two modes of thinking, focused and diffuse.
Focused-mode is directly associated with the concentration abilities of the brains Pre-Frontal Cortex and is vital for problem solving, analytical analysis's and the study of Maths and Science.
The diffuse-mode of thought is associated with ‘big picture’ perspectives and new and insightful thinking, also crucial for the study of Maths and Science. Diffuse-mode thinking is what happens when you relax your attention and simply let your mind wander.
In the below diagram you’ll see an example of focused-mode thinking on the left hand side, and diffuse thought on the right. The analogy of the pinball machine references how we generate new ideas, attempting to get the ball to reach an unexplored area of the brain represented in black.
The diagram foresees that in order to reach new and creative ideas, our brains must be in occasional diffuse-mode, otherwise known as relaxation.
Imagining stimulated neurons as rubber bumpers and a thought as a pinball, focused-mode encourages familiar journeys through neurological pathways because of its overcrowding of rubber bumpers. Whereas in diffuse-mode the final location of the pinball is a little more unpredictable.
Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in modern history, reportedly exploited diffuse-mode thought by sitting in a chair, relaxing and grasping a pair of ball bearings, contemplating creative ideas. In such a state of comfort Edison would eventually begin to fall asleep waking to the sound of his ball bearings crashing against the floor. Alert and ready, Edison would get straight back to work, harvesting the knowledge taken from his diffuse-mode period of thought.
Additionally, Salvador Dali, one of the most influential surrealist painters of the 20th century, performed the same routine; using keys, instead of ball bearings.
This tells us that innovation, creativity and performance require a ratio of work and relaxation. A person doesn’t have to sacrifice their every moment in order to achieve great results in the future, in-fact we should be actively encouraged not to do so.
Much like an athlete performing sets of bicep curls or push ups, our brains require resting periods in order to perform at their maximum potential.
Take the night off, go for a walk, see a show, just remember - don’t take yourself too seriously. Not relaxing enough will ruin your life and your work.
