The Power of Silence in Promoting Productive Thinking — Personal Perspective.
Humans are a thinking species endowed with the ability to generate ideas through coherent thought. However, our social world is filled with distractions everywhere.
These distractions can hinder productive thinking, create unhealthy obsessions, and adversely affect memory and concentration. As we find ourselves both capable of producing ideas through thinking and susceptible to distractions, it is worth asking the question: Do you have a dedicated thinking time?
Think about a time in your day when you completely disconnect from the online world, silence your phones, unplug electronic devices, and create an environment where no one is talking to you. If you answered ‘yes’ to this question, you are among the few who have set aside precious moments to think where distractions are absent. However, if your answer is ‘no’, which is usually the case for many people, it’s time to consider allocating time for silent thinking.
This is a challenging task, especially when we are constantly surrounded by cleverly designed apps vying for our undivided attention. Over the past three months, I have been experimenting with creating periods of silence, and though I haven’t fully mastered the practice, the results have been promising.
Let me share with you my approach to silencing the distractions around me and creating a time of complete silence. I have chosen Saturdays as my designated pilot day, but you can select any day of the week. The only condition is that it should be a day with fewer obligations on your to-do list. Saturdays have offered me this opportunity, hence my choice.
When I say silence, I mean complete silence. I find a place where I know I will not be disturbed during my desired silence time. I leave my physical and digital books behind, although I always carry one or two with me. I turn off my phone, disconnect from the internet, and abstain from phone calls, allowing only emergency calls. I choose a public place where I am a stranger, minimising the chances of encountering familiar faces that might disrupt my intention to stay silent. And thus, my silence begins.
It’s worth noting that while in silence, your brain does not go silent; biologically, this is impossible. Instead, it continues to work, but the difference now is that the thoughts processed by your brain are not external stimuli but rather inward reflections. This shift places less demand on your brain’s energy resources.
After one hour of complete silence, I examine some key thoughts that have travelled my mind. If necessary, I jot them down on paper, but sometimes I simply allow them to pass, depending on the value I attach to these thoughts.
My silence sessions typically last three hours, with a 30-minute gap between each hour. You might be wondering what I do during the breaks between silence sessions. Do I allow external distractions back in, reconnecting with the outside world’s noise? The resounding answer is No. Allowing distractions to creep back in would jeopardise the entire project, as they would consume the harvest of your thoughts. Instead, I take a silent walk during the break, recharging my energy through cardio exercise.
After strictly timing my 30-minute walk, I return to my designated place and start the second hour, repeating the process for the third hour. By the end of the silence session, I had accumulated three hours of solid thinking in silence and enjoyed 90 minutes of exercise from the walk. However, these are not the only purposes; the most significant outcome lies in the quality of reflection generated during the silence and the discipline acquired from resisting unhealthy distractions.
While my silence sessions remain a work in progress, the results thus far have been highly promising. I encourage you to give it a try; you won’t be disappointed. Allocate dedicated time for silence, embrace the power of uninterrupted thoughts.
