When you leave appliances plugged in, they continue to use energy even if they are turned off. This energy is known as “phantom” or “vampire” energy.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “always-on” but inactive devices cost U.S. households $19 billion annually.
In modern electronics, there’s little difference between a device that is left on and one that is turned off but still plugged in. Appliances that have remote controls or internal clocks continue to draw power to maintain a “ready state” so they can respond to the remote control.
This energy use depletes the energy that is available for other uses.
This same pattern happens in the brain, too.
Despite the virtuization off multitasking, brains are actually terrible at multitasking. Efficient brains do one thing at a time.
The more things you’re trying to handle at once, the more the available energy gets siphoned, leaving less for each task.
Every decision, every unresolved issue, every open conversation loop, is like an appliance that is plugged in.
The overall cognitive load of the open loops and unresolved issues depletes the system. This makes you inefficient at any task and hampers performance in both the cognitive and physical realms.
It’s not just your work that suffers. It’s also workouts, time with friends and loved ones, energy for hobbies, and even sleep.
Even though your brain is “off” during sleep, in that you’re not consciously thinking about the issues, the mere fact that it remains unresolved means your brain is like a cord still plugged into the wall.
Your nervous system is still maintaining a “ready” state.
Over time, this condition can become chronic, making even the most simple tasks feel like the heaviest lifts.
To truly stop the energy drain of a device, you need to unplug it. The same applies to your brain.
But how, exactly, should you unplug? Stay tuned for more in part 2.
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