当你玩手机时大脑仍然处于高负荷运转状态

当你玩手机时大脑仍然处于高负荷运转状态

When you collapse on the couch after a long workday and start scrolling through social media, you're not doing your tired brain any favors, says author Celeste Headlee.

当你在漫长的工作日后瘫倒在沙发上，开始浏览社交媒体时，你疲惫的大脑并没有得到任何帮助，作家塞莱斯特黑德利说。

"Your brain sees your phone as work," she explains. "To your brain, any time that phone is visible, part of your brain is expending part of its energy on preparing for a notification to come in. It's like a runner at the starting gate."

“你的大脑会把你的手机当成工作，”她解释道。“对你的大脑来说，任何时候只要看到手机，你的一部分大脑就会把部分能量花在准备接收通知上。它就像一个在起跑线上奔跑的人。”

Researchers have found that simply having your phone nearby can tax cognition. "You're carrying your work literally everywhere," Headlee says. "As far as your brain and body are concerned, you're never taking time off."

研究人员发现，仅仅是把手机放在附近就会增加认知能力。“你把工作带到任何地方，”黑德利说。“就你的大脑和身体而言，你从来没有休息过。”

In her new book, Do Nothing, Headlee, a longtime journalist and public radio host, encourages readers to be intentional about protecting their downtime. She came to that realization after she found herself sick in bed for the second time in just a couple of months.

在她的新书《无所事事》中，资深记者兼公共电台主持人黑德利(Headlee)鼓励读者有意识地保护自己的停机时间。当她发现自己几个月来第二次卧病在床时，她才意识到这一点。

"I was more successful than ever," she recalls. "Things were going really well for me. So why was I not just sick, but miserable?"

“我比以前更成功了，”她回忆道。“对我来说，一切都很顺利。那么，为什么我不仅病了，而且还很痛苦呢?”

Headlee started digging into the research and found evidence thatthe brain works best when it can alternate between focused labor (not multitasking!) and rest. Because even when it's "resting," your brain is busy doing critical tasks. In fact, the brain is nearly as active during periods of rest as it is during periods of focus, Headlee says.

黑德利开始深入研究，发现证据表明，当大脑可以在专注的工作(而不是多任务处理!)和休息之间切换时，它的工作状态最好。因为即使在“休息”的时候，你的大脑也在忙着做重要的事情。事实上，大脑在休息的时候几乎和集中注意力的时候一样活跃，黑德利说。

"It's sifting through memories," she explains. "It's making new connections. It's doing surprising things because it's not focused on a task. So that's where a lot of creativity comes from."

“这是对记忆的筛选，”她解释道。“它正在建立新的联系。它做着令人惊讶的事情，因为它没有专注于一项任务。所以这就是很多创造力的来源。”

Where did our work culture come from?

我们的工作文化从何而来?

Headlee believes some of America's obsession with work can be traced back to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation in 16th-century Europe. Ideas about working your way to heaven, Headlee explains, "meant that every idle hour was one in which you were not earning your spot with the divine. ... It was your work that made you a good person. And therefore, obviously, if you're not working all the time, you should feel guilty."

黑德利认为，美国对工作的一些痴迷可以追溯到16世纪欧洲的马丁路德和新教改革。黑德利解释说，关于如何通往天堂的想法，“意味着每一个空闲的时间都是你无法在神圣的世界中赢得一席之地的时候。是你的工作让你成为一个好人。因此，显然，如果你不是一直在工作，你应该感到内疚。”

She also points to the Industrial Revolution as a "mile marker" in forming America's work culture.

她还指出，工业革命是形成美国工作文化的“里程碑”。

Headlee says it's time for a reexamination of America's obsession with efficiency and speed. She believes that humans are pushing our brains and bodies in ways that are not adaptive.

黑德利说，是时候重新审视美国对效率和速度的痴迷了。她认为，人类正在以不适应的方式推动我们的大脑和身体。

Headlee also observes that in an age of social media, Americans are comparing themselves with celebrities — to people far outside their social circles.

黑德利还注意到，在社交媒体时代，美国人把自己与名人作比较，与远远超出他们社交圈的人作比较。

"I think one sociologist said that we're no longer keeping up with the Joneses — we're keeping up with the Kardashians," Headlee says.

“我想，一位社会学家曾说过，我们不再是在与邻居攀比，我们是在与卡戴珊攀比，”黑德利说。

It's no wonder Americans feel the need to work harder, put in longer hours, to forever self-improve.

难怪美国人觉得需要更加努力地工作，投入更长的时间，才能永远自我提高。