I have made it my adulting mission to learn how to slow down. I was raised by a single mom who had a packed schedule every day, and sometimes it felt like there was a metronome playing in the back of our lives. Every moment of our day was timestamped by an activity – laying out clothes the night before, making it to sports practices on time, dinner, bath, bed and repeat.
So, it’s no wonder that I’d grow up to be an efficient woman with a keen sense of urgency in everything I do. Why waste time when you can take a walk and voice note an email or pair chores with podcasts? And over time, I began to confuse recreation with downtime not realizing that I wasn’t truly giving my brain a break to be creative, to rest and recharge.
It wasn’t until I started researching and learned about The Default Mode Network (DMN) of the brain that I started to examine my relationship and mindset regarding rest.
What is The Default Mode Network?
The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a network of brain regions that are active when the mind is at rest and not focused on the external environment. It’s the interconnection of the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and inferior parietal lobes.
The DMN is associated with self-referential thinking, mind-wandering, daydreaming, and introspection.
Self-referential thinking is the process of relating information to ourselves, usually from the outside world. And it’s so necessary for taking ordinary stimuli and creating meaning of it for ourselves – this can be as simple as remembering someone’s name from a networking event hours before. If you don’t allow your brain to rest, you don’t make room for this type of thinking. You become more forgetful and overstimulated.
The DMN highlights the importance of incorporating periods of rest, relaxation and reflection into our routines.
These 3 R’s require that we slow down – that we don’t conflate rest with recreation.
3 types of rest that encourage The DMN
1. Physical rest
To relieve your body of stress and muscle tension
2. Sensory rest
To remove yourself from stimuli and disturbances
3. Mental rest
To quiet your anxieties and refocus on what’s important
How to give your brain a break
Take a walk without headphones
Look up at the trees, tap into all of your senses, allow the sunshine to soak into your skin and just be.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
Lao Tzu
Take a bath
If you have a bathtub that you’ve been walking past because you’re too busy to sit and soak, this is your sign to get some Epsom salt and take a bath. And while you’re in there, just sit – no books, no headphones, no agenda.
Fold and put away laundry
Linger over this mundane chore without rushing on to the next thing, let your mind idle as you pair socks, tuck shirts into drawers and hang slacks in the closet
Take advantage of every free moment
When your laptop won’t connect to the coffee shop WiFi, when the line is longer than you expected, when the after-school pick up line is wrapped around the building…don’t just do something, sit there. Reclaim those moments to let your mind wander and take advantage of the opportunity to do nothing.
More rest means more productivity in these 5 areas
Idea generation and creativity
The DMN allows for spontaneous and creative thinking when your mind is relaxed. This is why you might want to carry a notepad on your walks just in case!
Memory consolidation
If you slow down, you might remember where you left your keys. Give your brain space to organize and integrate, form memories and retain the new information you’ve acquired.
Stress reduction
Mindful breaks help calm your mind and reduce your stress levels, allowing your stress to flow through a natural cycle so that you can feel mentally restored.
Self-awareness and reflection
Self-referential thinking helps you identify areas for improvement, set goals, and make more informed decisions.
Emotional regulation
Reflect on your emotions, gain insight into your emotional states, and regulate you responses more effectively.
The DMN is typically associated with mind-wandering and daydreaming, but it also helps improve cognition and productivity as a result of proper rest. Your non-work time is limited, and I know you want to make the most of it. However, using that time to simply be will help you progress toward your goals and prioritize your physical and mental health.
You deserve rest. Know that you are enough. You do enough. You have enough.