What's your brain break activity?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around various activities that participants engage in to refresh their brains while working or studying. It explores a range of methods, from physical activities to mental exercises, and includes both serious and light-hearted contributions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention engaging in desktop sports or humorous YouTube videos as brain refreshers.
  • Others suggest that posting on the forum itself can serve as a mental break.
  • One participant shares that going to the beach, playing the ukulele, and reading comics are refreshing activities, although they question the effectiveness of comics as a true brain break.
  • There are differing opinions on the appropriateness of longer activities like beach trips, with some suggesting they should be limited to about 15 minutes.
  • Several participants discuss online activities, such as browsing Reddit or watching educational videos, as ways to unwind.
  • One participant proposes using combinatorial semantics as a playful way to engage with work-related material without being accused of slacking off.
  • Another mentions the importance of sleep and nutrition in maintaining mental clarity and suggests napping as a refreshing activity.
  • Physical activities like walking dogs, working out, and team sports are highlighted as effective breaks from studying or working.
  • Some participants express interest in biofeedback techniques for achieving desired mental states.
  • There is a suggestion that taking breaks from cognitively demanding tasks can help the brain make connections that are not possible during intense focus.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on what constitutes an effective brain break, with no clear consensus on the duration or type of activities that are most beneficial. Some agree on the need for short breaks, while others propose longer or different types of activities.

Contextual Notes

Participants' suggestions vary widely in terms of feasibility and personal preference, with some activities being more accessible than others depending on individual circumstances, such as location or lifestyle.

houlahound
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Some activity you do while working to refresh your brain. It is actually a serious thing. I encourage anyone not familiar to learn about.

I have desktop versions of field sports I play eg miniature basketball hoop, Velcro dart board, desktop catapults, and some mindless funny YouTube sub's eg boogie298, don't feel sorry for him, he is a fictous character based on a composite of gamers. Here he is destroying the most hyped space game ever released on the market ;

 
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Does posting on this forum count?
 
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Yes most definitely.
 
Going to the beach to feel the salt and the wind and playing the ukulele. I’d say reading comics, too, but I get so into it that it’s probably not a brain refresher :( Also, recently, I mess around with basic abstract algebra topics because it’s fun and a lot different compared to the math I’m doing for school.
 
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Good things but a trip to the beach is prolly to major to qualify as a brain break.

Should be only about 15min max.
 
houlahound said:
Good things but a trip to the beach is prolly to major to qualify as a brain break.

Should be only about 15min max.
For me, going to the beach can, in fact, take only about 15 minutes, if that's what you like.
 
Lucky you, I live about 300 miles from the coast. My dogs have never seen the beach even.
 
houlahound said:
Lucky you, I live about 300 miles from the coast. My dogs have never seen the beach even.
There's no luck! I'll never have a chance to see a moose here and seeing a moose in the wild would be lit :frown:. But I digress...
 
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Reddit.
 
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  • #10
houlahound said:
Some activity you do while working to refresh your brain. It is actually a serious thing. I encourage anyone not familiar to learn about.

I have desktop versions of field sports I play eg miniature basketball hoop, Velcro dart board, desktop catapults, and some mindless funny YouTube sub's eg boogie298, don't feel sorry for him, he is a fictous character based on a composite of gamers. Here he is destroying the most hyped space game ever released on the market ;



So, you laugh at fat people? :D joking
 
  • #11
What else are they good for??
 
  • #12
At work: I go on Reddit or Youtube. When on Youtube, it's mostly educational, with some dumb funny things mixed in. What I do depends on how exactly I've stressed my brain out. If I've spent all day doing complex math, the thing that relaxes me the best is going to an SAT prep site and filling in the math section. Simple math relieves my brain from harder math.

At home, I work out, or meditate. Playing the guitar or painting is the best defrag I've found though.
 
  • #13
this is what I do: I always delete my models so these are not my best. It is an escape from reality.
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  • #14
houlahound said:
Some activity you do while working to refresh your brain.

What about combinatorial semantics ?

An activity done while working at some job ? - such that the goal of the activity is to refresh your brain at the same time you are working on the job.

An activity done while your task consists of working to refresh your brain? - such that the activity itself is not the work of refreshing your brain.
 
  • #15
An activity to mentally recoup your brain while you are at work but the activity is not the work you are doing.

I thought the examples made it obvious.
 
  • #16
houlahound said:
An activity to mentally recoup your brain while you are at work but the activity is not the work you are doing.

...and you are "at work" in the sense of being in the location where you do work, but not "at work" in the sense of doing work - unless you can simultaneously do a recreational activity and do your work.

I'm retired, so I'm never "at work" in either sense. My suggestion for an activity to refresh you brain is "combinatorial semantics". Look at some written material that pertains to you work, but that nobody takes seriously -such as "mission statements", emails from HR department etc. Read a sentence and see how many different interpretations of it are possible.

You can't be accused of goofing-off at work if you are reading material that you were supposed to read.
 
  • #17
Nothing refreshes my brain more than catching up on my sleep. If I am working on a problem at home and I start to feel tired, I no longer fight it. I take a nap. Maybe it's only 15 minutes. But it helps tremendously.

If I'm not tired but just want to relax mentally, then I may do some web surfing.
 
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  • #18
I break up long study sessions by walking my dog, doing a quick workout, or just taking a walk myself.

With full time work and classes on top of that, things get hectic and stressful. Playing on a coed soccer team Tuesday evenings and hockey on Sundays is a good weekly get-away.
 
  • #19
Can't prove it but I think good nutrition, adequate sleep and physical activity make brain more gooder.
 
  • #20
Russian roulette for me! :redface:
 
  • #21
Here's a silly response perhaps. But I wonder if anyone has tried biofeedback techniques, such as monitoring your brain waves and trying to put them into the desired state?
 
  • #22
Not so much monitoring them but I know a lot of people that do excecises to achieve certain brain states.

Becoming very trendy in the corporate/executive world.
 
  • #23
houlahound said:
An activity to mentally recoup your brain while you are at work but the activity is not the work you are doing.

I thought the examples made it obvious.

From my extensive background in uhhh.. reading pop-sci articles about neuroscience... My understanding is that taking time away from a certain cognitively heavy activity (like studying) to do something else let's your brain make some of the connections it can't make when you are focused. The activity you do can still involve study or something that requires thought, but the less related it is to your main activity the better.

-Dave K
 
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