Do you feel like you have lost the patience to read an entire article? Or maybe if a Facebook post is too long or a friend's message is more than 10 words you sigh before starting to read.

Do you sometimes look at your phone as if it’s a dark abyss where hours can go by without doing much? It seems to be the biggest distraction in your life.

Do you have great ideas and plans but no energy or motivation to execute them?

Were you a voracious reader but don't feel like picking up a book now?

The culprit could be an “information overload”. We are constantly consuming information; browsing a million sites before shopping, well meaning friends sharing more information than needed, and countless other things. On top of that there are news articles, blogs, podcasts, and tv shows. This is just on an individual basis; there is an even wider net of information at work. So you get the picture, our brain is constantly being stimulated. 

But we have lost the art of letting our brain just wander aimlessly. The very idea seems so unproductive. We start looking at our devices the moment we get up and it is the last thing we do before bed. Don’t take this personally. This idea is not about judging ourselves but more about reflection. You are after all reading this blog and taking information in!

We need to give our brains a chance to integrate, file, and categorize all this information that we have gathered. How do you do that? 

By doing nothing. By allowing ourselves to get bored. 

Yes, I am not kidding, try it sometime. What you will notice is that...

Your attention span will increase

You will get new ideas

You will find the energy and drive to try out those new ideas

Simply allow your mind to question, think, travel, imagine, visualize, and wander without any agenda. Watch what happens. I know it might be hard in the beginning but I challenge you to give it a shot.

“Not all who wander are lost” - J.R.R Tolkien