Training Your Brain

A Stanford University professor recently discussed research that indicates multi-tasking may be bad for your brain. Essentially, in measured tests, those who were attempting multiple tasks at the same time, declined in their productivity, or the ability to accurately accomplish what they were doing.
In large measure, we have socially embraced interruption to a point that it may be not only decreasing our ability to function, but it may also be recalibrating our brains to respond to interruptions without regard for the value of those interruptions or their importance. In other words, we train our brains to give attention to the new stimulus, no matter what it is or no matter how insignificant or unimportant it may be. Consequently, the brain surgeon who carries his cell phone in his back pocket may be more interested in the reason for the vibrating phone than he is in the brain he is currently operating on. It is a brain-influenced phenomenon. When we repeatedly respond to interruptions, to the neglect of the matters at hand, we lose effectiveness.
As a pastor, I regard it as a significant part of my work, to be able to adapt to the necessary interruptions required for ministry. Crises occur, persons need immediate assistance, timely response is important for any number of church related activities and meeting ministry needs. At the same time, it is becoming ever more necessary to identify times for solitude. Time to pray. Time to study. Time to read and reflect and write require periods without constant interruption. And apparently we need to work at reversing some of the patterns so prolific in our social context that cause us to do too many things poorly simply because we are trying to do them all at once.
If the research proves true, it may be the tip of the iceberg that describes the abilities of multitudes of people being compromised by the social interruption of 24/7 availability via internet, cell phones, and email, not to mention the bombardment of media via radio, television and disruptively injected video and sound bites of all sorts.
The constant stimulus to our brains with interrupting sounds, rings, bells, and voices may be limiting our ability to hear anything well, to listen hardly at all, or to appropriately respond when it is absolutely important to do so.
Persons who seem to have limited attention may simply be over stimulating their brains with interruptions that inadvertently “train their brain” to continue changing their focus away from matters at hand. Allowing for longer periods of focus without interruption may be the key to “resetting” our brain’s attention cycle.
When Jesus took time to separate himself from the crowds, when he spent time in solitude and prayer, when he demonstrated by his own example the importance of balancing the intensity of constant interruption with the needed time for rest, he taught us something important to recognize. Human bodies require rest, renewal, and time to give attention to God above all others. Our brains may not only need the retraining, but the
opportunity to learn from the One who knows us best.