Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink.
Today, we are going to learn about 10 habits that are destroying your brain.
Now, let’s begin.
1.
Mindless Procrastination Do you struggle with procrastination?
Do you have a hard time resisting temptations throughout the day?
Let’s say you have a few hours of work to do.
Right when you sit down at your desk, your friend sends you a message, inviting you to
hang out.
Do you say “no” to focus on your work?
Or do you procrastinate, so you can have fun?
Every time you procrastinate, you’re damaging your self-control.
You’re making it harder and harder to choose your work over having fun.
Instead of teaching yourself to prioritize goals and projects, your brain learns to place
your work on the backburner.
In other words, you’re sabotaging your self-control.
Self-control is a muscle you have to exercise every day.
If you’re procrastinating, you’re weakening that muscle.
You’re stopping your brain from building healthy, disciplined habits.
And that impacts your productivity down the road.
It’s time to reset your priorities.
When you feel the urge to procrastinate, force yourself to buckle down.
Even if you work for five minutes, choosing work over fun strengthens this important muscle.
You’ll learn more self-control.
You’ll develop a disciplined routine.
And you’ll achieve more in the long term.
2.
Excess Sugar How much sugar do you consume on a daily basis?
Sugar is an ingredient in almost all the processed food we eat every day.
It’s in the beverages we buy, the treats we snack on, and the meals we enjoy.
A healthy amount of sugar is essential for your energy and growth, but too much sugar
damages your most important organ: your brain.
The brain can only process so much sugar.
If you consume two or three times your daily sugar content, your brain may struggle to
create proteins and absorb nutrients the way it should.
Excess sugar also impacts your mood.
It leads to high highs and low lows, which ultimately worsen your concentration, your
memory, and your ability to solve problems.
Next time you’re craving a sugary snack, think about how much sugar you’re putting
into your body.
Is one delicious desert worth sabotaging your self-control?
I don’t think so.
3.
Juggling Tasks Everyone makes this mistake at one point or
another.
You want to be productive.
You want to knock things off your to-do list, so you start to multitask.
You browse the internet, answer emails, and send texts to your friends, all while trying
to focus on your work.
But whether you like it or not, multitasking is damaging your brain.
The human brain cannot pay equal attention to multiple tasks.
In fact, multitasking can lower your IQ by up to 10 points.
This comes from a study by the University of California.
They found that people who juggle multiple tasks perform significantly worse across the
board.
Why?
Because your brain gets overloaded by problems, demands, and sensory stimuli.
That overload interferes with your ability to think clearly.
Texting while working, for example, steals a chunk of your attention, increases your
stress, and lowers the quality of your work.
If you’re a multitasker, put this bad habit to rest.
Put your phone somewhere you can’t see it.
Close your email.
And focus solely on your work.
4.
Neglecting Your Hearing Do you listen to music at full volume?
Do you wear headphones for hours every day?
Fewer and fewer people are taking care of their hearing.
Hearing loss is on the rise, affecting 1 in 4 Americans, and the amount of noise pollution
in the world is growing.
When you drive, you listen to cars honking.
When you fly, you tolerate jet engines roaring in your ears.
When you listen to music, you blast each song into your eardrums.
You may not think twice about the health of your ears, but your hearing is slowly getting
worse.
So take care of your ears.
Wear earplugs or try noise cancelling headphones.
Turn your music a few notches lower and preserve your hearing for years to come.
5.
Draining Inactivity Your brain likes to stay busy.
It enjoys novel activities.
It wants to accomplish tasks and dive deep into challenging projects.
The more stimulation you give your brain, the more stimulation it craves.
But that doesn’t always work in your favor.
If you’re productive or creative, that stimulation creates positive momentum, pushing you toward
productivity.
On the other hand, if you stimulate your brain with time wasters like TV or social media,
your brain craves more of the same.
This is especially problematic for people who work during the week and rest on the weekend.
When you’re not at work, you want to relax and unwind.
So you do absolutely nothing.
You give into your bad habits.
You spend your time playing video games and binging TV shows.
And without realizing it… you build negative momentum.
Just because it’s the weekend, doesn’t mean you should turn off your brain.
You don’t have to work, but you should stimulate your brain with activities you can’t do
during the week.
For example, spend your time working on creative hobbies, engaging in good conversations, and
participating in physical exercise.
These stimulating activities facilitate learning and growth in important areas of your brain.
So keep your brain active and engaged.
Otherwise, you’ll feel lazy.
You’ll lose your motivation, and your brain will pay the price.
6.
Personal Limitations Do you have unreasonable expectations of yourself?
Many ambitious people expect perfection.
And they’re disappointed with anything less.
They push themselves to work harder than everyone they meet.
And they’re never satisfied with the work they’ve done.
You may admire people with this go-getter spirit, but their constant ambition takes
a toll on your brain.
No matter who you are, you have limits.
There’s only so many hours in a day.
And you only have enough energy to do a finite number of things.
If you expect yourself to accomplish everything overnight, you’re going to feel disappointed.
And you’re going to lose sight of your personal limitations.
Personal limitations are imaginary boundaries that define how much work you can do without
overloading your brain.
Those boundaries are different for everyone.
Some people work for hours without skipping a beat.
Others take frequent breaks to keep themselves fresh and motivated.
No matter what kind of worker you are, pay attention to your personal limitations.
And control your expectations.
Your goal is to find a healthy balance between work and life.
When you’ve found it, you can strike that balance day after day.
7.
Information Overload Have you ever experienced information overload?
Many people overburden their brains with too much information.
You give yourself a hundred things to memorize, but most of those things… slip through the
cracks.
There’s a limit to how many pieces of information your brain can juggle at one time.
Let’s say you have forty items on a grocery list.
Because there are so many things you have to remember, each of those items stands a
higher chance of being forgotten.
But what if there are only five items on your list?
You’re much less likely to forget anything, because there is less information for your
brain to remember.
Information overload is a frequent source of stress, and it doesn’t do your memory
any favors.
If you encounter a long list of information, break it down into smaller pieces.
That way you brain can stay alert and stress-free.
8.
Social Neglect How often do you interact with other people?
These days, we spend most of our time staring at screens.
We have phones, computers, and tablets.
We talk to people on Facetime and Zoom.
But there’s nothing quite like speaking to a friend or family member face to face.
The truth is… your brain craves social interaction.
Humans are social creatures.
That’s why socializing increases your mental and emotional well-being.
If you go days without talking to another person, your brain misses out on opportunities
for growth, happiness, and social fulfillment.
Yes, your work is important.
It’s great to be passionate about a project, but you should always make time to see people…
no matter how busy you get.
9.
Sleep Deprivation There are dozens of reasons why your brain
needs to sleep.
From memory to concentration, health to happiness, your brain relies on a good night’s sleep,
night after night.
But what if you’re consistently sleep deprived?
Maybe you have an irregular sleep schedule.
Maybe you’re tossing and turning all night, because your room is bright or noisy.
Maybe you spend too much time on your phone before bed, so you struggle to fall asleep.
Whatever the cause, you’re missing hours of deep sleep.
Don’t wait for a good opportunity to change the way you sleep.
Fix your environment.
Get on a schedule.
Practice healthy nighttime habits, because a good night’s sleep… is mentally and
emotionally invaluable.
10.
Skipping Meals Many people skip meals.
You may think you’re doing your body a favor, but your brain depends on food throughout
the day.
It uses that food to generate energy, regulate your mood, and solve problems.
Without food, your brain can’t function the way it should.
The same thing happens when you stop drinking water.
Your brain needs water and lots of it.
Without a consistent supply of water throughout the day, your performance suffers.
Your energy levels decrease, and your concentration flies out the window.
More importantly, if you’re not eating or drinking, your brain isn’t growing.
Instead, it starts aging faster than it should.
Your cells begin dying, and your brain becomes prone to short- and long-term issues.
Luckily, you can keep your brain fueled and hydrated.
Drink plenty of water.
Eat three meals a day.
That way, your brain stays at the top of its game.
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