The Sound of Silence: Improve Your Relationship, Productivity, Mood, and Health
Posted on April 10, 2020 by Lucy Adams BSEd MS PCC, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
Coach Lucy Adams asks you to consider your discomfort with silence and how increasing silence in your day can positively impact your life.
Our environment bustles with auditory business: the sounds of traffic, the sounds of landscaping equipment, the sounds of people talking, the sounds of life going on around us. Layered on top of the background noise are the music we have playing, the podcasts we’re listening to, the interpersonal conversations we’re engaging in. Then there are the random and various noises associated with being, such as the cabinet door that squeaks, the alert that buzzes or bings, the HVAC unit that rumbles, the clock that hums.
In all, what we experience is sound compounding upon sound, resulting in a chaotic cacophony.
Our brains do an excellent job of what psychologists term sensory adaptation, meaning our brains learn to ignore most of the auditory signals coming in in order to stay vigilant to a signal denoting a significant and meaningful change to which we should pay attention. Just because our brains begin to ignore all the meaningless noise around us,however, doesn’t mean that the noise has no impact on us. Think about the last time you stepped out of a noisy environment and suddenly noticed the change in decibel. The noisy environment likely hadn’t been bothering you, but the new quietness probably came as a relief that you felt physically and mentally.
Constant sound, even the sound that we don’t directly pay attention to, impacts our moods, impacts our productivity, impacts our problem-solving ability, impacts our health, and impacts our sense of well-being. Yet, many of us are uncomfortable with silence. Right? Most of us have go-tos – audio books, unnecessary chit chat with someone nearby, a music playlist, or vocalizations like humming or whistling – for filling silence.
We all want to be more productive. We all want to experience positive moods the majority of the time. We all want good health and well-being. How can silence help you achieve those things? How much true silence do you experience daily? What could you do to increase your minutes of silence per day?
What are your reasons for avoiding silence? How do they impact your comfort with silence? What impact does lack of silence in your day have on you, your relationships, and your job performance?
What can you do right now to minimize the impact of noise in your environment? What can you do right now to increase the benefits of silence?
