"Butterfly brain: why smartphones are making us stupid"- Maria Lally

This article by Maria Lally is definitely a must read. Dr. Davis is an amazing researcher and he's got some pointers for us. I'm only including part of the article in this blog post, however, if you visit the link below you can get the full picture.

Read the full article here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11811986/Butterfly-brain-why-smartphones-are-making-us-stupid.html

“Our brains are designed to pick up on what’s new or changing around us,” explains Josh Davis, director of research at the NeuroLeadership Institute in New York and author of new book Two Awesome Hours, in which he offers science-based strategies to optimise your productivity. “In the digital world, things are changing and being posted every few seconds. News sites and social media are also – and purposefully – designed in an easily digestible way that draws us in. It’s no wonder so many of us have butterfly brains.”

But he counters that distractibility might not be as bad news as first thought. “A well functioning brain should wander every few minutes,” says Josh. “It makes us more creative and stops our brain from burning out. So don’t resist it. However, the mistake many of us are now making is when we take a break from ‘work information’ we replace it with an endless stream of information from social media or the news or whatever else is online. Digital breaks don’t have an end point – you can spend hours flitting around and then you feel overloaded. Or you can stay up late, mindlessly browsing, even when you’re exhausted.”

He adds that it’s not just the endless stream, but the type of information we’re flitting between, that takes its toll on our state of mind. “Think about it,” says Josh. “If you click on a news story about a war that’s heartbreaking, then a political leader you feel frustrated by, then a social media photo that makes you feel inadequate, no wonder you feel spent and stressed.”

So how to break the cycle - without breaking our smartphones? Besides a digital curfew, Josh recommends taking non-digital breaks during the day - whether a walk, a coffee, or even just staring out the window and people watching. “All these things have a built-in end point,” he explains. “The walk will end, the coffee will finish, people-watching gets boring and then you drift back to work feeling refreshed and with a re-booted brain.”

Even Andy Puddicombe, mindfulness 'guru' and founder of meditation app Headspace, doesn't advocate a total digital detox. “The constant demands of alerts, notifications and social networks can leave us feeling worn out,” he acknowledges. “And under those conditions is can be tempting to reject technology altogether. But an “all or nothing” approach rarely works. Not to mention that if we’re simply replacing being completely obsessed by using technology to being completely obsessed by not using it, we’re still obsessed. It’s not a case of technology [itals] or [itals] mindfulness, rather a mindful use of technology.”

Five ways to calm butterfly brain

1. Go back to black

If you can’t resist spending the hours before bed on your phone, reverse the settings. ‘You can reverse the contrasts on your phone or tablet (on an iPhone: Settings>General>Accessibility>Invert colours) so instead of black writing on a white background you have white writing on a black background,’ says J. Bruce Morton, professor at the University of Western Ontario’s Brain and Mind Institute in Canada. This massively reduces the blue light that affects your brain’s cyclic rhythm, disrupting your sleep/wake cycle.

2. Get moving

‘It may take a chunk out of your day, but exercise has been proven to sharpen your mind and increase your concentration,’ says Josh. ‘So you’ll actually get more done in less time on the days you take a long lunch to go to the gym.’

3. Eat well

“Good diet can help calm a busy mind,” says trainer James Duigan, author of the Clean & Lean Diet. “For example, a study from Ohio State University found that foods rich in omega-3 (like salmon and tuna) can help decrease anxiety. Whereas sugary foods and too much caffeine (one or two cups are fine) make your mind busier and less able to focus.”

4. Keep company

A study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine found that anxiety levels rise after six hours of social isolation, due to changes in brain hormones. So if you work from home take your laptop to a coffee shop for an hour or book in regular work meetings or coffees with friends.

5. Leave the easy tasks to the end of the day

“Leave your least important and easiest job to the end of the day,” suggests J.Bruce Morton. “The last half hour or hour of a working day is often spent flitting around from task to task because you’re tired. Fill that space with one simple task instead.”