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Being present in the now

That the human attention span is now as little as eight seconds may be debatable. What’s not up for debate: that we face a daily onslaught of distractions, mainly in the forms of buzzes, notifications and texts emanating from our devices. (Recent research from Duke University suggests we receive 65 to 80 smartphone notifications per day.) Electronic communications were supposed to help us streamline and maximize our time, not make it harder for us to focus and be productive.

Yet juggling multiple devices and tasks can negatively affect performance and efficiency, according to research. (Multitasking — in the form of second screening — is becoming the norm even during activities like watching TV). But the human brain is not equipped for multiple streams of communications happening in one breath. Concentration and memory suffer, and scientists at the University of Sussex are now trying to determine if multitasking may even be responsible for physical damage to the brain.

Huffington stresses that we need a better understanding of the impact of our newfound connectivity. “The smartphone is only 10 years old,” she says. “We are just now beginning to create the new rules of the road. We need to rebuild our culture.” Equally important, she says, is the need to disconnect periodically. “Downtime is a feature, not a bug, of the human operating system,” notes Huffington. “Achieving, conquering, building, and then refueling and recharging — it’s the stuff that the ancient philosophers talked about that science validates.”

Make room for silence and solitude

“Technology can replace many of the functions that humans perform,” says Huffington. “But creativity and innovation are two of the functions technology will never be capable of replacing. Both are the first to go when we are running on empty.” People are having trouble being alone, but silence and solitude, she says, are incredibly important for creativity and innovation.

In the book Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout and Thrive with the New Science of Success, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda says, “A good idea doesn’t come when you’re doing a million things. The good idea comes in the moment of rest. It comes in the shower. It comes when you’re doodling or playing trains with your son. It’s when your mind is on the other side of things.” And he’s on to something: Researchers believe more than 40% of creative ideas surface when the brain is at rest, according to the book’s authors Brad Stulburg and Steve Magness. Dr. Marcus Raichle, a neurologist, attributes this activity to a part of the brain called the default-mode network, which quietly works out problems when we let our thoughts drift.

A counterintuitive idea emerges: unplugging actually improves productivity and output.