How Silence Benefits Your Brain In This Noisy World
How often do you find yourself quietly on your own in this noisy world? Even when you’re at work, out of the 7 to 8 hours, how many of them are your own quiet hours?
A study at the University of California, Irvine, found that a typical office worker’s focused quiet time is only 11 minutes in-between interruptions on average,[1] and it actually takes 25 minutes to resume to work after any interruptions.
The noise and interruptions are badly affecting our work efficiency, and in fact, our life too.
Our brains will be overloaded and their normal functions can be affected with too much noise.
Psychologists examined the effects of the relocation of Munich’s airport on children’s health and cognition. They let the third- and fourth-grade students who lived and went to school near the old airport and near the new airport have tests on reading, memory, attention and hearing. Here’s the findings:[2]
The reading comprehension skills and long-term memory of children near the old airport improved once air traffic moved to the new airport, while the performance of children near the new airport declined.
Even though you may not be always working under excessive noise in your office, noise still interrupt the functioning of your brain to some extent.
Our brains get stimulated by sound, and too much noise can overload our brains with stimulating chemicals, affecting our comprehension skills and attention.[3]
Sound waves vibrate the bones of the ear, which transmit movement to the snail-shaped cochlea. The cochlea converts physical vibrations into electrical signals that the brain receives. The body reacts immediately and powerfully to these signals no matter when.[4]
On the contrary, silence gives our brains a break and boost our performance.
In a scientific research, physician Bernadi compared the effects of different types of music with silence as a control experiment. It’s found in the participants that the two-minute silent pauses in between the music played were more relaxing than listening to the relaxing music or the longer silent period before the experiment started.[5]
Perhaps the arousal is something that concentrates the mind in one direction, so that when there is nothing more arousing, then you have deeper relaxation.
Silence seems to work better for our brain when it’s heightened by contrasts.
The CEO and co-founder of a design company Milanote, Ollie Cmpbell, was well aware of this; so his team instituted daily “quiet time” to bring the balance back for the employees in order to help with their attention and creativity.[6]
The company compared months of data on the team’s velocity, and it showed that they’re 23% more productive after trying this for four years. Campbell said,
We don’t work on Friday afternoons any more. We’re less stressed. And we think our work is better, too.
A powerful brain needs regular breaks, so set aside time for silence and get unplugged.
Silence calms not only your mind and soul, but also boosts your brain functions; so making room for silence is really important for all of us.
You can start by scheduling yourself a period of strict quiet time at work and off work.
Get unplugged or go offline for a little while at work, so you don’t get interruption from anyone and anything.
When you’re not at work, find yourself a third place — a place where you can be comfortable with and enjoy your own time;[7] maybe it can be the park nearby? Or somewhere by the seafront? Most importantly, this should be a place where you can be alone and quiet.
Featured photo credit: Metrouk via metrouk2.files.wordpress.com
Reference
| [1] | ^ | Wall Street Journal: Workplace Distractions: Here’s Why You Won’t Finish This Article |
| [2] | ^ | American Psychology Association: Silence, Please |
| [3] | ^ | Livestrong: The Effect of Sound in the Human Brain |
| [4] | ^ | Nautilus: This Is Your Brain on Silence |
| [5] | ^ | Nautilus: This Is Your Brain on Silence |
| [6] | ^ | Ollie Campbell: Quiet Time |
| [7] | ^ | Psychology Today: Happy Places: Third Places |
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