In a recent interview, journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates said that serious thinkers and writers should get off Twitter. It wasn’t a critique of the 140-character medium or even the quality of the social media discourse in the age of fake news. It was a call to get beyond the noise. For Coates, generating good ideas and quality work requires something very rare in modern life: quiet.
He’s in good company. Harry Potter’s creator J.K. Rowling, biographer Walter Isaacson and psychiatrist Carl Jung have all cultivated periods of deep silence.
Think about it
Recent studies are showing that taking time for silence restores the nervous system, helps sustain energy, and conditions our minds to be more adaptive and responsive to the complex environments in which so many of us now live.
When we’re constantly fixated on what to say next, what to write next, what to tweet next — it’s difficult to drop into deeper modes of listening and attention. And it’s in those deeper modes of attention that truly novel ideas are found. Even incredibly busy people can cultivate periods of sustained quiet time. Here are four practical ideas:
take FIVE MINUTES OF QUIET TIME
If you’re able to close the office door, retreat to a park bench or find another quiet hideaway, it’s possible to hit reset by engaging in a silent practice of meditation or reflection.
TAKE A SILENT AFTERNOON IN NATURE
You need not be an outdoors type to ditch the phone and go for a simple two- or three-hour walk in nature. Immersion in nature can be the clearest option for improving creative thinking.
GO ON A MEDIA FAST
Turn off your email for several hours or even a full day, or try “fasting” from news and entertainment. While there may still be plenty of noise around – family, conversation, city sounds – you can enjoy real benefits by resting the parts of your mind associated with unending work obligations and tracking social media or current events.
TRY A MEDITATION RETREAT
Even a short retreat can be the most straightforward way to turn toward deeper listening and awaken intuition. The world is getting louder. But silence is still accessible — it just takes commitment and creativity to cultivate it.
