Your Morning Routine Toolkit156Part of our brain, called the reticular activating system,
acts like a nightclub bouncer for all the input coming at us at
any given time. Right now, you’re thinking about this book
and what I’m saying. But you could also be thinking about
how your clothes feel on your body. Maybe your shirt is itchy
or your socks are too tight. You could be thinking about your
breathing or the way the air conditioner is blowing. You could
be thinking about that sound you hear in the background or
the way your skin feels tight.
We are bombarded with input from all our five senses. Our
brain, wonderful as it is, can’t process all that input at once. Just
as Taylor Swift, who seems to love meeting fans, can’t possibly
handle all the people coming at her in airports or on the street,
your brain can’t handle all the input coming at it at any given
time. Just as Taylor Swift has bodyguards who manage who
gets access to her, your brain has your reticular activating sys-
tem to help you focus on just a few things at a time.
The problem is, our reticular activating system bodyguard—
let’s call him Ray— isn’t the smartest guy on the block. Anyone
can smooth talk his way into the inner circle. So if we see a
cookie and start thinking about the cookies Grandma used to
make, suddenly Ray is on high alert for cookies. We see cookies
everywhere. The stop sign looks like a cookie. We smell cookies
as we drive past a bakery. We remember that the convenience
store has cookies. And we hyperfocus until... we get a cookie.
So the key to getting Ray to work for us and not against
us is to put blinders on him. The less information we give Ray,
and the more focused that information, the better things will
get through so we focus on them.
This is where choice architecture comes in.