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Battle Your Brainrot with Books

Have you come across the term “Brainrot” yet? It comes from our lifestyle of busy living, screen swiping, and “working in a state of semi-distraction” (Newport 43). We’re swamped with shallow work, the kind of tasks that do little to feed the growth of our brains. We spend most of the day checking email (shallow), multi-tasking (shallow), and moving too quickly (you guessed it – shallow).

We need depth in our lives. We need to work on interesting mental challenges that we can pour our entire focus into for long periods of time. It feels good to work on something important, and by doing so, we not only prevent this new phenomenon called “Brainrot,” we fortify against it. No matter our age or state, we can always increase our intelligence.

Learning to read a book WELL battles Brainrot. Go for it – pick up the kind of books that make you think. Wrestle with their words and concepts. So what if they’re hard – that’s a good thing! Netflix and TikTok are easy, but they’re not helping you – they’re distracting you.

Your brain is craving something important. Feed it with words from Michel du Montaigne, Tolstoy, or Shakespeare. At first, and for a long time, it may feel like you’re reading a different language. That’s because you’re overcoming Brainrot. Stick with those books, and soon, they will not only make sense, but they will far surpass the “wow factor” of TikTok.

One final thought. “When you lose focus, your mind tends to fix on what could be wrong with your life instead of what’s right” (Newport 82). That’s why it’s so important to escape shallow activities. When you tackle something mentally hard, you fortify against Brainrot and you stop thinking about what’s wrong with life in favor of what’s right.

Until tomorrow, read slowly – take notes – apply the ideas.

-Eddy

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Works Cited:

Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. First Edition, Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

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    author avatar
    Eddy Hood
    I’m Eddy Hood, host of The Read Well Podcast. I love getting lost in big ideas and great stories, and I started the podcast to help fellow readers tackle challenging books with confidence. I’m studying philosophy, running Edgewater Bookstore, and slowly chipping away at writing a novel.

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