Once upon a time, you could only call someone if you needed that person. We thought it inappropriate to call after 9 pm and before 8 am which meant that you were allowed to be off the map for 11 hours.
The information age has stolen that privilege, but we still need it. Limit your time online by checking your email and social media accounts at specific times. Put your phone away during dinner and one hour before you go to bed.
2. Stop multitasking
When we multi-task, our brain has to switch its attention between two different streams of incoming information.
This switching consumes vasts amount of energy slowing down our cognitive functioning and ability to avoid mistakes.
Divide your tasks into blocks and work on one thing at a time. After each block, take a real break.
3. Take a real break
We tend to fill our breaks with activities that we think are relaxing, such as Netflix or social media. But to our brains, these things are more stimuli that need to be processed.
Simply put, more work.
Try to take at least one real break of 30 minutes a day. Stare out of the window, take a bath, do some gardening, go for a run without music or even just vacuum clean.
4. Don’t fill in the blanks
Are you the type to quickly check your email at a red light? Or scroll through your Instagram feed while you’re on the toilet?
I know it’s tempting, but these blank moments are a precious gift for the busy mind. Leave them blank and just daydream.
5. Say “no”
We struggle with the word “no” because we don’t want to disappoint others. The fear of being disliked makes women prone to pleasing which takes valuable energy away from things that are important to us.
Focus on yourself first and don’t let others determine what you should do.
6. Invest in relationships
Make spending time with your loved ones a fixture in your workweek. Put your phone and laptop away and get lost in the moment.
Give that person your undivided attention.
7. Get enough rest
Develop healthy sleeping habits. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Switch off all screens one hour before bedtime, because the blue light disrupts your biological sleep rhythm.
Do something relaxing before bedtime like taking a bath or reading a book in soft, yellow light.
8. Schedule your time to worry
If you tend to worry a lot during the day, then try limiting your worry-time to twice a day.
You can do this by writing down what you want to worry about and then saving it for a scheduled time. Research at the University of Amsterdam has shown that this actually helps to reduce the amount of time spent worrying.
9. Go out and into nature
Countless studies have shown that being outside in nature has a calming effect on us.
Try to go outside for a minimum of thirty minutes every day. Don’t look at your phone, but allow yourself to be in the moment.
10. Get into a “flow”
Do you remember playing with your favourite toy when you were little? That is flow. Completely losing yourself in one activity and forgetting time.
It allows our brains to work without distractions and focus all energy on completing a task as well as possible.
11. Get in touch with yourself
This might sound a bit strange, but it is very important to recognise the early signals of stress.
Are you chronically tired or absent? Do you wake up tense? Are you more irritable than usual? If so, give your mind (and body) a break.
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