Attention, Restoration, & Mindfulness

When you are told that you have 3 midterms coming up in the next couple weeks how do you feel? What is that feeling boiling inside of you? It is STRESS! Stress and mental fatigue (direct attention fatigue DAF) can be confused but it is important to remember that they are not one in the same. Stress comes from the anticipation of an event or deadline while as DAF is caused by the exertion of attention that has already taken place and can also come from doing an enjoyable task. The concept that Direct Attention pertains to is the kind of attention you really have to push for, like reading textbook material or solving a compositional problem in a painting. After an hour of these kind of active engagements you might say, “wow my head hurts!” This is you reaching your max direct attention capacity. After a long day of work, coming home to homework and then writing this blog post, it is quite difficult to write something profound while fatigued. I feel unfriendly at the loud girls in my hall and feel as if I am alone. Will I ever be nice to them again and feel myself? Why do people get fatigued in the first place?

 What should I do if I have no more attention left for completing a task? Well, the worst thing I could do is keep going after establishing that I am fatigued, because, it will take up more effort than ever before and I will never be kind again. This type of abuse to my brain calls for restoration! If I were to live on fatigued I would act irresponsibly, have very little compassion, and nobody, not even my mom, would want to be my friend.

Studies have found that the best way to restore direct attention (so I won’t lose friends) is through the repetition of micro restoration that consist of involuntary fascinations including, nature. Perhaps that is why we fatigue so often, because nature isn’t close, at least not as close as it use to be. But aren’t we a part of nature? When did we begin to separate ourselves from the rest of the world? Maybe it was after we claimed ourselves as the dominant species and neglected the things that helped support our wellbeing. Being back in nature for about ten minutes at a time can do wonders to clearing your head and solving internal problems and feeling calm. After doing this, I feel back like my own self.

To prevent getting completely fatigued I could have wise management. This when one chooses an environment that eliminates distractions and decreases unnecessary efforts. Mindfulness (concept of self awareness, observing the present, and building mental models in calm settings) could pair nicely with restoration and preventing fatigue. With mindfulness comes observation usually in a more natural setting. This kind of attention to the environment makes us aware again that we are apart of the sounds and smells, that we are a part of nature. It can be quite easy to start, just don’t think of it as being a monk only club, but as a five-minute self healing session. This can consist of soft chimes from a phone app or sitting outside and listening to the sound of wind, letting internal thoughts come and go.

So start tonight, pause the busy day of stress and fatigue, sit down comfortably, and breath.