As we prepare for the Spring (Your Brain) Forward: Mental Health Tune-Up Challenge, let’s warm up your brains before our official start next THIS Monday, April 15th. Here’s a little “taste” of what’s to come in your weekly topic email. It will include an introduction to a mental health topic with easy-to-understand science, a few of my thoughts with a little humor, and 1-3 activities you can try throughout the week. These activities are designed to build up your brain function and health over time.

And now for our first lesson: The Brain on Autopilot.

First—science!

We make over 35,000 decisions a day. That’s the equivalent of the entire US FBI workforce. No wonder our most common feeling is “tired!”

Most of the decisions we make in a day are automated, like a computer program running in the background. For example, “Do I put on pants first or underwear?” I’m quite certain we agree here - the order of pants and underpants doesn’t seem like a choice. But ask any 3-year-old, and it IS a choice. This is a prime example of the everyday things our brains learn to automate over time. 

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