The Importance of Mental Stimulation

As I am sitting on this regional commuter bus on a very rainy grey Monday,  I am thinking about the many conversations I have had with folk lately about the importance of being mentally stimulated or finding something that gives you pleasure or joy. We often spend so much time just scrolling through apps endlessly that the need for mental stimulation often seems secondary to the need for distraction. However, the two are very connected and if we work towards one we may decrease the other.

 I scroll through Twitter a lot when I’m not at work. Often what I’m looking for is something interesting to think about. It could be new world issue, something pedagogically challenging, or the latest trend in something. I am looking for mental stimulation or something different to think about than what I was focusing on previously. However, when I don’t find that the scrolling will often turn to mind-numbing routine.

It’s so important to find something we are excited about and makes us think. I know that if I don’t feel stimulated it may adversely affect all the other things I have to do. Now don’t get me wrong, downtime and non-intellectually taxing time is super important too. Finding a balance between both is ideal.

This weekend I didn’t do anything intellectually stimulating. Yes I had some good conversations but they were brief. Now I am going into the week feeling a bit mentally sluggish. I know it’s Monday and it’s super rainy so I shouldn’t be hard on myself but I also know that if I do more stimulating things on the weekend that I rev into the week feeling recharged.

How do you feel about the importance of mental stimulation? Are weekends downtime or do you need to maintain this mental pace during the weekend as well? I know academe often promotes an unhealthy 24/7 all the thinking all the time- I just wonder how much of that anyone does in practice.