I woke up, did some yoga and went for a walk. It’s cloudy outside and kind of dark. Immediately, almost without thinking, I’ve pulled out my wireless headphones and played a video from my Youtube feed called “Embrace The Silence” or something to that effect, from channel Math Sorcerer. His micro essays on topic of studying and achieving one’s goals have been very helpful to me. This guy is like a coach I’ve never met that will just not give up on me no matter what.
In this one particular video he talked about the power of silence and the fact that most of the time we’re used to some auditory stimulus, be it music, podcasts or audio books. I’m very guilty of this myself. Even though I almost exclusively listen to material that has something to do with achieving one’s goals, improving quality of life, entrepreneurship and things I myself may regard as useful and important, it’s still often just a distraction. I definitely feel more connected when someone is speaking directly into my ears. It feels like I am not alone. I also noticed that I am at my most focused when I work in dead silence. As painful as it is, it really makes me use most of my conginitive capacity to complete whatever task is at hand.
To get back to the video, there I am taking a walk and realizing that the Sorcerer is absolutely right, I should limit the amount I listen to something and when I do I need to really intensely focus on whatever’s being discussed or said. Because otherwise it’s just noise and distraction. It’s all about attention and being present. I’ve heard this a couple of times now, how one of the most important resources we have is our attention. Want to listen to music? Fine, make sure you are paying all the attention to it and enjoy every second. Same goes for a podcast, think about what you’re hearing. If you’re going to work on something then focus on the work. In silence.