
Downtime is an effortless way to improve your memory (2018) - how-about-this
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180208-an-effortless-way-to-strengthen-your-memory
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_hao
I recently started reading "Deep Work" by Cal Newport and this is one of the
points highlighted in the book. I'd recommend it (even though I haven't
finished it yet).

I'm trying to be mindful during my day and I walk to and from work every day
which is around 9km total. The beneficial effects (on attention, memory etc.)
are twofold. In the morning it wakes me up and by the time I'm in the office
I'm ready to dive into my work straight away. I see a lot of people that
arrive drowsy or sleepy in the office and they need at least an hour to
actually start doing anything meaningful. In the evening I use the walk as a
"shutdown" ritual after which I don't think about work anymore. I also take a
30-40 minute walk during lunch time. It's a good point during midday to relax
a little bit and be refreshed for the second half of the day. Overall for the
day I walk around 11-12km. Health benefits of walking aside I really see how
it's making me more focused and I do better work because of it.

~~~
nswest23
I started that book but never finished it. I got about half way thru and quit
b/c I never found anything that revolutionary. A lot of it seemed to be
rehashing studies that other people did.

The gist of it seemed to be: if you need to do work that is mentally
challenging, block off large chunks of time to do that work b/c interruptions
are more disruptive that you think they are.

It would make a good blog post and I'm sure there are hundreds of them on the
topic but I don't get why it needs to be a book other than he convinced
someone to publish it for him.

~~~
_hao
I see your point and I agree - the book is not groundbreaking or
revolutionary. Me walking to work is something I've done for a couple of years
and not an idea I discovered because of the book.

With that said I think it's a well written and researched piece. I'll finish
it because even though I'm already using some of the techniques provided
inside, it's good to reinforce the things you know but it's also good to see
things from another perspective. Like for example I've never really given
thought to the monastic or bi-modal style of deep work although they are
reality for a lot of people. Small things like that are valuable (at least to
me).

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DantesKite
It's funny how this seems to be a form of meditation. It seems like an
incredibly useful tool for the modern age.

I wonder sometimes just how the brain manages to deal with the influx of all
these new, abstract ideas on a daily basis. Doesn't seem like there's much
time to digest it all.

But if this works, if it really is an effective tool for learning, I could see
it as a good way of bringing clarity into your life as your brain synthesizes
patterns and makes sense of what it's been working on for the past few hours.

The indecisiveness that people often report feeling during the day may just be
a lack of time spent consolidating all the information you've acquired up to
that point.

Maybe it's a sign you need to take a step back and do absolutely nothing.

~~~
ThouYS
That's also the one interesting argument against podcasts. That they take the
last remaining moments of doing nothing (vacuuming, doing the dishes,
commuting,...)

Especially interesting since one of the most popular podcasts is also run by a
very reflected meditation proponent (Sam Harris).

~~~
qwertox
It's funny you mention this, I've been thinking about this lately. I make a
1.1 hour sporty bike ride every day and listen to podcasts while doing so, but
I'm often asking myself if I should just not do that and instead listen to
myself.

The same goes for falling asleep, where I used to listen to podcasts but they
got replaced by YouTube videos which I just listen to. I remember the time
when I dealt with my thoughts before falling asleep. That was maybe 10 years
ago.

And kids nowadays will probably never get to know that feeling.

~~~
porknubbins
I’ve never been able to “deal with my thoughts” and also get sleep so since I
was able to read I consume fiction before bed to wipe the mental slate clean.
Before it was books, now mostly audiobooks or occasionally music so I can keep
it dark for my wife. If I can’t do this its usually 1-3 hrs of brain
processing worries from the day, next day etc. There must be others like me
who can’t just turn off instantly.

~~~
endtime
FWIW, I'm very similar. I find that the light pollution of a fully dimmed
screen in night mode, reading light text on a black background, is negligible.
(FWIW I mostly read in Pocket.) That amount of light doesn't keep me awake,
let alone my wife. I think headphones would disturb me much more.

------
deevolution
"We don’t give them any specific instructions with regards to what they should
or shouldn’t do while resting,” Dewar says. “But questionnaires completed at
the end of our experiments suggest that most people simply let their minds
wander In one study, for instance, participants were asked to imagine a past
or future event during their break, which appeared to reduce their later
recall of the newly learnt material. So it may be safest to avoid any
concerted mental effort during our down time. "

Astounding. I assumed that the high performing test subjects would have used
some sort of special memorization technique, but in fact doing and thinking
nothing actually wins out.

~~~
andai
It is possible none of the subjects were familiar with memory techniques.
Though I expect the same results would hold: after performing the technique,
take a break so the brain can transfer the encoding into long term storage.

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burtonator
Completely disagree. Every time my servers are offline it stresses me out,
can't sleep, customers yelling at me.

There's nothing worse than downtime! Five nines baby!

~~~
seabrookmx
Based on the downvotes some people clearly don't have a sense of humour.. but
this made me chuckle!

~~~
hinkley
I made a sardonic reply to someone else's joke reply the other day and it was
fun to watch it bounce around all day between +4 and -3 every couple of hours.
Everything in moderation.

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zitterbewegung
After some long nights either performing work tasks or going to local meetups
I try to take a nap on the train when I commute back to work. Sometimes during
my breaks I do some breathing exercises using my Apple Watch.

But, now that I am using meal replacements the actual time that I take to eat
lunch and or breakfast goes from 15 minutes to nearly 1-5 minutes which I
spend preparing the meal replacement and ingesting it. Since I now have 25
minutes left and I typically eat at around 11am when most people eat around
1pm I have actually started either meditating or doing nothing.

Going on for other ergonomics that should be done during work and or mental
tasks remember to check that your workspace is paired with a good chair and
that your monitor is at eye level and your mouse and keyboard or other input
devices don't require you to reach.

Another thing that is handy is rewarding yourself for a task not necessarily
with food but with some form of exercise. After I complete a task using a
computer I typically take a victory lap. This seems to actually cause positive
reinforcement by rewarding myself with that victory lap. I know that dog
trainers will use a toy instead of food to reward their dogs. It also will
help your ergonomics and could help with back problems. I find that walking
and or doing planking removes back pain for me (I'm 31).

~~~
pbourke
I honestly can’t tell whether this is satire.

~~~
zitterbewegung
This isn't satire... :(

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flyGuyOnTheSly
I find more and better solutions to problems without actively thinking about
them in a 1 hour yoga class than I can actively trying to solve them all day
at work.

It's gotten to the point that I need to bring pen and paper with me into
practice.

~~~
BLKNSLVR
I've said to myself that I do my best work in the bathroom. Whether sitting on
the toilet (sorry) or standing in the shower, it seems that enforced brain
idle time can be more productive than "trying".

I wonder if there's also a relation to the 'doorway = change of context' in
there somewhere? It literally gets you thinking outside the box.

~~~
amiga_500
For me it's the shower, running or cycling. Performing some kind of physical
task that is largely done on 'auto-pilot' in physical space. A more complex
task, such as playing soccer, which requires that I exert physical _and_
mental effort won't produce these results.

~~~
BLKNSLVR
Off-topic, even maybe the inverse, one of the things I like about 'more
complex' tasks like playing sports, is the single-mindedness that goes with
it. It quietens the rest of the world for a time; nothing matters but the
immediate, and it takes up 100% of processing to do it justice.

~~~
rramadass
>is the single-mindedness that goes with it. It quietens the rest of the world
for a time; nothing matters but the immediate, and it takes up 100% of
processing to do it justice

This right here is the essence of "Meditation". No gimmicks, No bullshit,
nothing.

Stages from the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali - "Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana,
Samadhi".

You can do this instant to instant on any current activity you are engaged in
(aka "Mindfulness") or for extended periods of time on literally any one
objective/activity.

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mhandley
My best ideas - the ones that lead to actual publishable breakthroughs - all
seem to happen in the shower. Some combination of enforced downtime, warmth,
relaxation and white noise from the water seems especially effective.

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holri
After a demanding session of piano practice I often have the natural desire to
just sit and look out of the window and think and do nothing for approx. 10
min.

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ArcMex
As I grow older, I can feel it when I learn something new. That's usually my
cue to stare into nothingness and just think about what I just learned before
letting it just get absorbed.

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agola
I'd really like to see controlled comparisons of different forms of cognitive
downtime--daydreaming, meditation, gaming, sports, yoga--measuring for these
effects.

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elcapitan
When I read this title I thought it's about optimizing servers by rebooting
them more often so they get rid of leaked memory. Also a form of medition I
guess.

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hyperpallium
Maybe day dreaming has a similar memory consolidation effect to dreaming?

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jklinger410
Using this to excuse my 6+ hour Cities Skylines binge on a Sunday.

~~~
fyfy18
Have there been any studies on the effects of stress by playing computer
games? Maybe it's the type of games I play, but I often find I feel more
stressed after playing computer games.

~~~
pete762
Yes, it's basically congruent with what the BBC article mentions. Being
immersed into a video game leads to less memory formation of what happened
beforehand. This can be used in trauma prevention etc.:
[https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201723](https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201723)

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anonytrary
Silicon Valley is backwards in this regard. There's this mentality of always
being busy; I can't help but feel it is a ruse for extroverts to flash their
social proof at each other. In Silicon Valley, people always want to seem
busier than they actually are, and people who are not busy are seen as
inferior.

The next time someone asks if you're working on a side project, say "no".
Carefully notice how their interest quickly turns into contempt. Similarly,
people don't want to hear that you're "taking it easy" or "doing nothing" this
weekend. That's literally all I tell people at work, and it just turns people
off.

~~~
blhack
So what do you do on the weekends?

~~~
anonytrary
I'm taking it easy this weekend.

~~~
blhack
But what does "taking it easy" mean?

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reportgunner
Is this title really _" Resting is a good way to rest"_ ?

> _It seems to benefit young and old people alike_

Oh wow this is science.

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hanse00
"Effortless"

I envy David Robson at the BBC, for whom it is apparently effortless to take
time away. Because it certainly isn't without effort for me to not
accidentally find myself back at my desk, late in the evening, working on just
one more thing.

~~~
paublyrne
Doing nothing is literally effortless.

