I have a busy brain.

I love learning. I love reading, researching, thinking, planning, creating and figuring things out. And for a long time, I probably would have considered many of those things “downtime.”

But here’s something I’ve had to remind myself:

Think about exercise. If you challenged the same muscle hard all day, every day, you wouldn’t expect it to perform indefinitely without recovery. You would give it time to rest.

Our brains aren’t muscles, of course, but I think the comparison gives us an important reminder: constant demand without periods of recovery isn’t necessarily better.

And while sleep is absolutely essential to brain health, sleep shouldn’t be the only time in a 24-hour day when we finally stop feeding our brains information.

We Live in a World of Constant Input

Think about how little true quiet exists in a typical day.

We wake up and check our phones. We listen to the news while getting ready. We answer texts and emails. We work. We listen to podcasts in the car. We scroll while waiting for an appointment. We watch television while eating. We read articles before bed.

Even many of the things we call relaxation involve giving our brains more information to process.

Our brains are continually being asked to pay attention, make decisions, process information, remember things and respond to what is happening around us.

None of this means that reading, podcasts, television, social media or learning are inherently bad. Learning and staying mentally engaged can be wonderful things.

The problem may be that we’ve forgotten to leave any space between all that input.

Your Brain Doesn’t Actually “Turn Off” When You Get Quiet

Here’s where the science gets interesting.

When you stop concentrating intensely on something, your brain doesn’t simply shut down. Researchers have identified a network of interconnected brain regions commonly called the default mode network.

This network is associated with internally focused mental activity, including things such as remembering past experiences, thinking about ourselves and others, imagining the future and allowing thoughts to wander.

In other words, those moments when you’re staring out the window and seemingly “doing nothing” aren’t necessarily wasted moments.

Your brain is still active. You’ve simply stopped demanding that it continually respond to something outside of you.

Then There’s the Stress Response

Our nervous systems are designed to respond to challenges.

The sympathetic nervous system helps prepare the body for action. Heart rate can increase, attention sharpens and the body mobilizes resources to deal with whatever is happening.

That response is normal and necessary.

But modern life can provide an almost endless stream of smaller demands: deadlines, notifications, traffic, emails, decisions, news, responsibilities and the constant feeling that there is something else we should be doing.

The other side of our autonomic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system, supports functions associated with rest and recovery.

Creating moments when we are not constantly reacting to outside stimulation can be one simple way to step away from that continual “go, go, go” mentality.

Quiet Doesn’t Have to Mean Meditation

This is an important distinction.

Whenever we start talking about slowing down the mind, people often immediately think, “I should meditate.”

Meditation can certainly be helpful for people who enjoy it, and research has explored its potential benefits for stress and well-being.

But that isn’t really what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about something much simpler.

No special technique.

No app telling you how to relax.

No need to accomplish anything.

Just quiet. Stillness. Presence.

Have We Become Afraid of Being Bored?

We’ve become remarkably good at eliminating boredom.

Have three minutes before an appointment? Grab the phone.

Waiting for your coffee? Check email.

Walking around the block? Put in the earbuds.

Sitting alone at lunch? Start scrolling.

We have the ability to entertain or stimulate ourselves practically every waking moment.

But maybe every empty space doesn’t need to be filled.

Sleep Is Still the Ultimate Brain Recovery Period

Quiet time during the day does not replace sleep.

Sleep plays essential roles in learning, memory, emotional regulation and overall brain function. During sleep, the brain also goes through important housekeeping processes.

One fascinating area of research involves the glymphatic system, a waste-clearance pathway in the brain. Research suggests that this system is strongly influenced by sleep and the sleep-wake cycle.

This is one reason I talk so often about quality sleep when discussing long-term cognitive health.

But there’s another lesson here:

Try Giving Your Brain 10 to 15 Minutes

I’m not suggesting you completely change your routine.

Start small.

Try creating just 10 to 15 minutes of intentional quiet each day.

And perhaps “intentional” is even the wrong word because there really isn’t anything you have to accomplish.

Put the phone down. Turn off the television. Leave the earbuds behind.

Sit outside. Walk. Pray. Think. Watch the world around you. Or simply sit quietly.

For those of us with particularly busy brains, that may feel strange at first.

We’re accustomed to doing.

We're accustomed to learning.

We're accustomed to solving.

We're accustomed to asking, “What’s next?”

But you don’t have to accomplish anything during those few minutes.

Leave Some White Space in Your Day

Think about a page filled from edge to edge with words.

Without margins, spacing or breaks between paragraphs, it becomes difficult to read.

White space makes the page easier to process.

Maybe our days need some white space, too.

We're surrounded by information, notifications, entertainment and opportunities to learn. Much of it can be wonderful.

But we don't have to consume something every waking minute.

And we don't have to turn quiet time into another wellness goal that we measure, track and try to perfect.

Sources & Further Reading

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Raichle ME: The Brain's Default Mode Network. Annual Review of Neuroscience.
PubMed

Xie L, et al.: Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain. Science.
PubMed

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Meditation and Mindfulness: Effectiveness and Safety.
NCCIH