moms need minds

Moms need minds. Sound silly? Well, I suppose it kind of is. Of course moms need minds. Everyone needs a mind. Without a mind we’d be like the little amoebas in the petri dish at high school biology class. Without minds we’d be like the tiny pebbles on the ground at the park.  

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all need minds. But, sometimes a mom feels like her mind is washing away with the last batch of laundry water, or turning to goo like the nasty effect when your child adds water to playdough to make “frosting”. When everyone is mad and grumpy with her and everything is her fault, a mom feels like her mind is not needed--or maybe just not wanted.

There is perhaps one exception to this mind-needing business: bodily fluids. When a mom is cleaning up disgusting bodily fluids—which she does more often than she’d like—a mind is possibly the worst thing for her to have. That said, in all other cases, mom’s most definitely need minds. Good strong ones too!

The reasons moms need minds are so ridiculously obvious I’m not even going to go into detail on the matter, but here’s an overview: educating, negotiating, scheduling, arranging, re-arranging, planning, researching, mediating, calculating, budgeting, etc. etc. etc. And that’s just for moms who are all-in at the moment—not currently working on a college degree, running a business, managing a career, etc., which would just add to the plethora of reasons why strong minds are absolutely necessary for moms to have!

If you’re a mom who remembers having a mind, but can’t quite understand where it went. There’s great news! Every mom can get her mind back again. Seriously. It doesn’t matter how far gone it is, or how little time she has in the day, it is completely possible. Trust me, I know, and I have a couple of recommendations.  

The first thing I’m going to recommend is to try and exercise regularly. Ugh, right. That darn exercise thing. I know it gets old hearing about all the benefits of exercise, and I know it doesn’t really seem like this activity has anything to do with the mind at all, but I promise it really does.

Admittedly, most of my reasoning here is based on personal experience. When I exercise my brain feels cleared, my body feels energized (and energy is required for learning), and my mood is lifted by that awesome little chemical called dopamine (and a good mood gives me the desire to learn).  That said, there is actually science that shows that in addition to these great anecdotally-reported benefits, the brain actually learns better when we exercise. An explanation in the Scientific American by Justin Rhodes (an associate professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign), states that …

“Part of the reason exercise enhances cognition has to do with blood flow. Research shows that when we exercise, blood pressure and blood flow increase everywhere in the body, including the brain. More blood means more energy and oxygen, which makes our brain perform better” (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-you-think-better-after-walk-exercise/).

It’s hard to find time to exercise, sometimes really hard. I get that, I really do! But I also know that the benefits are incalculable. Annoying, right? But it’s the truth.

So, here’s what you do if this is a hard thing for you, try a short walk (outside if you can manage it). Push your kiddos in the stroller if you’ve got little ones—they’ll probably love it. Or, consider a quick 20-minute program in front of your TV or computer screen. Even 10 minutes would make a difference! Link your exercise to some kind of reward if that will help. Maybe a favorite TV program.

Okay, there’s really a bunch more to say on this exercise thing, but it will have to wait for another post. Because my second recommendation is what I really meant to focus on, and that is BOOKS!!! Yes, good old fashion books. Oh, but it gets better. I’m not actually suggesting that you sit down to read a book. Although, I hope if you love to read you do make time for that when possible. My recommendation is that you listen to books. Listen to them while you do that annoying exercise thing, listen to them while you cook dinner or fold laundry, listen to them while you clean your toilets and vacuum your stairs. Listen to them during that drive home from work.

There’s just one stipulation. While fictional stories are wonderful and great for the mind, don’t just listen to those types of books. Listen to a variety. Listen to autobiographies and business books and books about psychology. Listen to all kinds of books.

Some great non-fiction options that I’ve “read” recently are:

How Will You Measure Your Life, by Clayton Christensen

How to Raise an Adult, by Julie Lythcott-Haims

The Future of Work, by Jacob Morgan

Girls on the Edge, by Leonard Sax

The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber

Boys Adrift, by Leonard Sax

The Willpower Instinct, by Kelly McGonigal

Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath

Excellent Sheep, by William Deresiewicz

Linchpin, by Seth Godin

Drive, by Daniel Pink

And for one final tip: try to borrow books first before you consider buying. Check out Over Drive (https://www.overdrive.com ) that allows you to check out and listen to audio books from your local library. As a back up, consider buying them through an audio book “club” (I use Audible, http://www.audible.com). 

And if books simply aren’t your thing, listen to podcasts!! There are a ton to choose from, you can learn all different kinds of things from them, and they are generally free!!

Watcha waiting for? Go feed your mind!