Quiet rooms feel awkward at first because you’re hearing yourself for the first time in a while.

The discomfort in a quiet room is mostly the sound of your own thinking becoming audible again. Constant input covers it, so when the input stops a backlog of half-finished thoughts shows up at once and the first few minutes feel strange. That awkwardness is a measure of how long it has been, not a sign that quiet is bad for you.

Try ten minutes with no audio this week, on the bus or in your room. Let the uncomfortable part pass instead of reaching for something. See what is left once it settles down.