Decision Fatigue & Trashy TV

What's it About...

Jonathan Stewart

Trashy TV. A palette cleanser for when you think too much? Or something else entirely...

March 31, 2021
Bitesize Blogs, Creative, Perfectionist, Sustainable Systems

When I first explored “productivity” there were always the traditional no-no's. Things you shouldn't do and I still do most of them…

In what I do – I spend a lot of time thinking and creating creative solutions to support business owners find the love for their work through the tools they use.

It's a repeated process of activity. My brain is always thinking, and it's always solving something.

Now the brain is a muscle and the more you use it, the stronger it gets – but like muscles (of which I have none 🤣) there is a need for rest and recovery.

For me, I know I need a brain break when I'm struggling to decide what food to eat and what I wanna actually do. Textbook decision fatigue.

A while back I read an article by Paul Jarvis (part of Fathom Analytics*aff link) which he beautifully entitled Thinky Think Thinks.

It was probably the most intellectually stimulating article I had read in a while that still brought a smile to my face.

He posed an interesting question:

What if we need ordinary thinks to balance our thinky thinks?

For me – the answer is 100% yes and my “ordinary think” of choice. Trashy TV & Disney Films.

For me it's a momentary slice of “peace” even with Gordon Ramsey yelling: “Oh fuck off” at everyone with the most unoriginal sound design in the world.But for me – it's exactly what I need. It's a momentary bit of peace where I don't have to think.

It's the “recovery period” for my brain.I've struggled to find anything else that gives me the break my brain needs.

The only fiction I love is crime dramas and psychological thrillers – yeah brain is definitely going from there.

Also I will never read a business book in the evening again after I spend nearly the entire night thinking up new ideas… 😴

Now that's to say I don't watch it every day – but it's always there when. I need it… to quote Paul Jarvis again, “A palette cleanser for the mind”

What you think of:
Decision Fatigue & Trashy TV?

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