Time wasted will never be recovered! That’s an old adage that will never change, even in the future. According to research, it takes about three weeks to establish a certain habit. That means, if you do something consistently for 21 days, you will get used to it involuntary unless you decide to change.
Well, we all have habits that we follow religiously. Unfortunately, some of them are brain-damaging. The sad bit is sometimes we do not know even when we’re harming ourselves. When the brain is damaged, you can be sure your whole body will be affected.
One of the best ways to stop messing up with your brain is by getting rid of the deadly habits you’re used to. Below are some of the habits you want to drop.
- Listening to loud music
Music is food for the soul. But that changes when the music is loud. Whether you’re listening to your home theatre or listening using your headphones, high-volume music will damage your brain.
We love to play loud music more when we’re doing what we love. The activity might be taking a walk, working out, doing house chores, reading, or even working from home. Sometimes we blast our speakers when performing boring tasks.
Whatever reason you have, playing loud music is disastrous to your brain. Modern earphones are designed with noise-canceling features. This means locking your ears to the head device and stopping anything from the outside from getting through your earphones.
Other than loud music, continuously listening to music can be damaging. That is why experts advise you to take breaks in between. That way, you’ll give your brain and ears time to rest and rejuvenate.
- Multitasking
One may wonder what this is. Well, it is simply doing two tasks at once but doing so poorly. Multitasking is an illusion. Humans cannot multitask! Those who claim can, and actually do, do not really understand what goes on.
Unlike a computer, you can only do one thing at a time. If you force your brain to concentrate on two things, you’re simply trying to damage it. That is why you must stop that habit of multitasking.
It may appear like you’re saving time but in a real sense, you’re damaging your brain. I’d rather waste time than waste my brain.
When you do this, you lose the power to prioritize tasks. The ability to choose what’s relevant and what’s not vanishes. Besides, your memory is affected.
When you lose the ability to concentrate, the power to store information also reduces significantly. That also affects your performance in school and/or work.
This also affects your ability to be empathetic and compassionate. That means developing some antisocial skills. Even the act of listening to loud music is antisocial as it blocks smooth communication between you and others.
- Watching too much reality show
The brain is what you feed it. Reality shows are more often made-up stories that look so real. Some people want to watch every episode of a reality show. While they may not realize it, they slowly but surely start living that life they’re watching.
The problem with this is that you slowly damage your brain without your notice. All of a sudden you develop a made-up personality and lifestyle. You start to live a fake life that isn’t really you.
Once that starts to happen, you will develop a certain degree of rudeness. Submission becomes a problem and those above you start to have issues with you. That may cause you lots of problems if you’re not careful.
Reality tv shows have very misleading storylines. They make you believe that’s the best life to live. And you blindly believe not knowing the damage you’re doing to your brain and relationships. Before you know it, you’d have been brainwashed already.
- Too much social media
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and many other social media platforms have done so much more damage to people in the last decade than any other thing.
The rising cases of depression can be partially attributed to the rise of social media. Consumption of fake and lethal content from these platforms has given people the wrong impression of life.
The youth now want to be overnight billionaires and are willing to do anything including stealing. This is risking their lives and some even get killed.
Some people have chosen to stay off social media completely and just live a simple life. You too can do that and save your brain from severe mental damage. If that is impossible, you can minimize your social media usage and restrict it to communicate with friends or other constructive stuff.
That means you should be objective with your social media usage. That way you will reduce the damage this killer is doing to brains today.
- Not reading books
Rather than waste your time on social media, you’d rather spend your time reading books. That will help build capacity and your ability to think.
As others destroy their brains, you will be building yours. Not reading books hinders your brain’s ability to grow. That means giving room to more destructive habits that may damage your brain more and shape your life in the wrong direction.
- Lack of enough sleep
If a computer can slow down after hours of work, or too much load, imagine the damage lack of rest causes to your brain. It is unimaginable. You need to rest enough if you want to be effective.
Some people do not sleep enough. I used to be one of those until I realized that it was being counterproductive.
You should never negotiate with your rest. Enough sleep gives your body time and space to carry out its daily functions properly. That way, you can start the next day fresh and ready to perform.
When the brain has had enough rest, you will be very active and productive all day. The reverse is true. Lack of enough sleep damages your activity. You become lazy and lose everything you’d worked for at work or school.
Therefore, strive to stop these six habits and see your potential grow. Your brain will also become more productive. And you will live a healthier and happier life.
