Here’s why you can tell everyone to shut up, backed by Science ;)

We can all name some people who are guilty of noise pollution — who can never take the hint that they are really the only thing causing your headache. But there are also a lot of other forms of noise pollution that we encounter in our everyday lives that leave us feeling drained and exhausted from just listening to the sounds around us.

AirPods, headphones, speakers — they all drown out noise with, you guessed it — more noise. And not to mention if you live with your family you’ve got background noise going twenty-four seven or if you live downtown you’ve got street noises and random people yelling — all leaving little room for you to just be with your thoughts.

And I’m guilty of it too, drowning out the sounds I cant control with the playlist of my choice; but it turns out that that’s not necessarily the right answer either. Noise pollution has been linked to higher blood pressures, more frequent heart attacks and even disrupted sleeping patterns.

That’s right. Hearing stuff can affect your health.

And no, I’m not making this up. I originally read about the power of silence in one of my current favorite self-improvement books of all time, 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week, written by Tiffany Shlain. The book talks about the importance of taking a ‘Tech Shabbat” once a week and how our lives are currently being impacted by technology. Long story short, I was faced with the harsh reality that I spent a good portion of my time with AirPods in my ears and a screen in front of my eyes.

So I unplugged.

I took the stupid little ear buds out of my ears and started going for walks with my dog around my neighborhood — no music or podcasts but literally just my own thoughts.

I loved it and I can’t tell you how much it’s helped me. I actually will get excited before I go to bed because the next morning I get to wake up and go for a walk before the sun rises. And I get to hear the gravel crunch under my feet, the little tags on my dog’s collar clink together and the birds chirping as they start to wake up.

But that’s a bit more of a result of me reducing my screen time, so let’s talk about some other forms of silence.

I also stopped listening to music when I studied. I know, I never should have been doing this in the first place, but I got into the habit when I would study at school or on the bus. And if I’m being completely honest, at first it sucked. But after, I found that even if I was just rewriting notes, I could retain information and numbers much better than when I was thinking about the song lyrics and singing along.

And I get why you’d be hesitant to be in silence all the time too. Sometimes I still want a distraction from my own thoughts or just to be able to jam out to some music — but once you start doing things in silence you’ll start getting hooked, trust me.

Let’s talk about why Silence is so Magical for Good Thinking

One of the main reasons I personally started looking into how silence can affect your brain is because of past issues I’ve had with focus and getting distracted. I always thought that music, although stimulating in itself, would make doing boring homework a little bit better and I’d be able to get it over with without taking breaks. Which is true, but then I’d also find myself listening to music when I didn’t need it, like when I was brushing my teeth or eating lunch.

But, in order to tap into your best thinking, you NEED silence.

There’s this thing called the default mode network of the brain, that basically allows us to daydream and fantasize, essentially ‘zoning out’ of the surrounding space around you. And I know what you’re thinking — yes, music helps us to do that too.

But only when the brain is in this ‘limbo’ and is unbothered by any external stimuli and noises is it able to do the real work, which is letting those creative juices flow and giving you the time you need to do your best thinking.

Another little perk of silence too: it can help you generate new brain cells. In a study conducted by the journal, Brain Structure and Function it was discovered that only two hours of silence a day is enough to prompt the development of new cell’s in our hippocampus. This region of the brain is super important for things like remembering where you put your keys, picking up new skills and controlling your emotions.

Sooo, next time you’re in a situation where someone can’t seem to stop talking, just kindly let them know that you want to grow new brain cells and they’re stopping you from doing that — if they need proof, just send them this article ;)

Thanks for reading my article! Hope you learned something new and will find moments of silence in your day from now on. Subscribe if you like what you read and have a great rest of your day!