Stop Compartmentalizing

Using Your Brain To Reach Flow In Life

Do you view your life in ‘compartments’?

Do you file away the various aspects of your life in different “drawers”?

So, the new job goes in one place, separate from your love life and apart from your desire for more money.

But what if we abandon this compartmentalization and instead look to integrate all the different aspects of our life in one place to create a whole different way of living.

A life where the meaning of work flows into the joy of writing, the exhilaration of walking, the satisfaction of cooking a healthy meal and connecting with loved ones.

A life where all those different ‘compartments’ are not separate but flow together.

One way of creating that kind of flow is understanding what values and experiences are most important to you.

But to figure that out, we first need to understand how the right and left hemispheres of the brain works.

There is a popular myth that the world is divided into people who favor the brain’s right hemisphere individuals and those who lean towards the left hemisphere. 

According to this myth, the right hemisphere is more creative and sees the big picture while the left hemisphere is more logical, in charge of things like language processing.

But neuroscience research shows us that the division between the two hemispheres is less clear-cut than that.

While it is true that the two hemispheres exhibit marked systematic differences and pay attention to different things, they nevertheless work together in an integrated way. 

According to leading cognitive neuroscientist Kara D. Federmeier, whose research focuses on language, memory and hemispheric asymmetries, it is important to consider what “logical” and “creative” mean when evaluating the role of each hemisphere. 

A good example are math skills which are often considered to be one of the logical abilities the left hemisphere excels in. However, studies reveal that math operations are processed in BOTH hemispheres—depending on the type of skill required.

So, the left hemisphere has an advantage when it comes to math skills like counting or reciting multiplication tables—skills which are more about memorized verbal information than logic. On the other hand, the right hemisphere has an advantage when it comes to tasks like estimating the quantity of a set of objects.

This pattern, in which both hemispheres make critical contributions, holds true of most types of cognitive skills.

When it comes to language, it has long been thought that the left hemisphere is king. For example, damage in the left hemisphere often leads to aphasia (speaking difficulties) while similar damage to the right hemisphere rarely leads to aphasia. 

While it is true that the left hemisphere plays a more important role in our ability to speak, that doesn’t mean that the right hemisphere is “nonverbal.” Studies show that while the right hemisphere might not produce language, it plays a crucial role in comprehension and our ability to see images from what we have read or heard. 

Like other complex skills, the ability to understand what we read or hear requires both hemispheres working both together and separately.

Bottom line?

It takes two hemispheres to be logical—or creative.

This brings me back to you.

Because for you to live an integrated life, you too need to use both brain hemispheres.

On the one hand, you need to use the right hemisphere to look at the “big picture.” Ask yourself what is the experience you see for your life? What will give you joy, fulfillment, success, connection (or whatever values you need to honor)?

On the other hand, you need to take that big picture and figure out how to transform it into a reality with a detailed plan and priorities (i.e., lean on the left hemisphere’s ability to pay attention to the details).

Reaching flow is entirely possible and both sides of your brain will help you get there.

Interested in getting more flow in your life? Let’s talk…