My husband and I have been working together recently.  He called from a business trip, and instead of the usual greeting launched straight into work-related questions.  Immediately I recognised where his head was at.  He was rushing to get work done in between meetings, and he was talking to me with his business brain. 

Fortunately for him, my business brain spends a lot of time at the water cooler making terrible jokes, so I was able to make light, and promised him the answers he needed after I’d finished the school run.  I emailed with a nice message and he called back an hour later to apologise; he’d been rushing (quelle surprise) and was just trying to get the job done.  Haven’t we all been there? Nothing good comes of rushing, I tell you, nothing!

But it shone a spotlight on something I’ve been noticing lately in myself; my business brain.  When I’m working, there is a certain kind of mindset I sometimes notice myself fall into.  It’s a focused mindset, one that’s no nonsense, direct and wants answers quickly.  It’s analytical, controlled and always on the lookout for efficiency.   It doesn’t seem to exhibit much compassion.  My husband spends a lot of time in this mindset because of the nature of his work, whereas it’s relatively new for me so I’m finding it a bit of a novelty; I never knew a ‘business me’ existed!  (Though I draw the line at power dressing, I mostly work from home so it’s comfies all the way). 

My business brain isn’t bad, per se, but I don’t find it as expansive as my creative brain.  Weirdly, I can feel when I slip into my business brain, notice my responses becoming more serious and clipped, my empathy almost shuts off, (like when Stefan in the Vampire Diaries shuts off his humanity), and the focus is on getting the tasks done as efficiently as possible. 

Being a woman who wants to spread a little joy and inspiration in the world, I have to ask myself, what can I do to combat this slow slide into the bureaucratic brain?  The most straightforward answer is to bring some creativity into my work, but that feels quite hard with numbers and spreadsheets!  I utilise emojis in my emails if the recipient seems receptive (don’t judge me, a lot can be conveyed with a yellow smiley), and I try to keep my emails friendly and human.  The other day I made a spreadsheet with a benignly humorous title which brightened my day, and I try to be a bit less ‘stiff’ in the language I use in internal reports.  In short, I try to stop myself from drowning in a sea of bureaucracy by exhibiting as much humanity as I can muster in a three-line email asking for money.

Left brain/right brain

Psychologists once thought the left brain/right brain split to be quite pronounced:  the left brain controlled our analytical, task orientated and specific functions; the right brain was responsible for creativity and big picture thinking.  Neuroscience now shows it’s more nuanced than this, with both sides of the brain taking part in many tasks, but what seems to be true is that each hemisphere of the brain has a different approach to the world.

Dr Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and his Emissary (which I’m taking very slowly on audible, it may take me as long to listen to it as he did to write it), says that the left hemisphere has a narrow focus, giving attention to detail without seeing the larger context and sees objects (and people) in terms of their usefulness.  It can’t make human connections, doesn’t recognise humour or tone of voice and sees the world in a linear way.  The right hemisphere sees things in an interconnected way.  It understands implicit meaning, relationships, body language, story and metaphor.

Dr McGilchrist fears that the left side of the brain is taking over the right, and that we are seeing the results of an unbalanced brain play out on our planet, resulting in ever-increasing separation, bureaucracy and damage to the planet, because with a left brain focus, we’re losing the ability to relate to each other and the Earth.  Indigenous people don’t see any separation between humans and nature, while the left brain (western) view of the world sees it in terms of resources.  When you consider this, it’s easy to see where we’ve been going wrong.  If neurons that fire together wire together, then the more time we spend in our left brain, the more we’ll engage in left brain thinking and the more we’ll see this play out in our lives and the world.  But it also works the other way, and the more time we spend in our right brain, the more we can bring things back into balance, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to see a bit more balance in the world? 

It’s time for a right brain revolution!

So how can we spend more time engaging the right hemisphere of our brain?

For this, creativity is key.  Any kind of creativity, but something you enjoy.  Throw paint at a canvas, write a short story, rearrange some flowers, rearrange your furniture, cook a new meal.  For anyone who’s thinking, ‘I don’t like any creative things,’ this is a common misconception.  We’re creative beings at heart, the trick is to try a few things (and not worry about being any good at them), until you find something that lights you up, then do that.  When you get bored of it, find the next thing that lights you up and go try that.  Have fun with it.

Meditation.  Yes, I’m banging my meditation drum again, but there are so many different types of meditation and it’s so good for helping us connect to ourselves, each other and the Universe.  Look into what kind of meditation might work for you (mantra based, mindfulness, walking meditation, guided meditation), and set an intention to do it for five minutes a day, see how you feel.

Have a go at an instrument: bang a drum, tickle the ivories, play the spoons.

Listen to some music: dance, sing along, tap your foot; just get into the groove.

Do a jigsaw puzzle.  The right side of the brain loves spatial problems.

Decorate your home.

Visit somewhere new and inspiring.

Break the routine: walk a different way to the shops/work/school, notice what’s around you as you do, are there any new buildings?  Was that tree always so beautiful?  How come you never noticed those flowers before?

Try it and let me know how you get on, and share your ideas for bringing the brain and the world back into balance in the comments.

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Albert Einstein