Stopping in today’s world is challenging. It demands a strong will, as well as a focus to help achieve it. Taking time away from your normal activities can help you in many ways. For the portion, downtime is the time that you need to calm your mind during a hectic work schedule. It could be simply a break from your normal work or as a “tea-time”. Headline benefits of taking downtime include
- increased productivity
- increase profitability
- improved mental and physical health
- protection from burning out
- reduction of stress
However, in the world of smartphones, we are unable to grab the benefit of “downtime”. We have busy schedules and endless daily agendas, and it is tough to benefit from days off, free nights, or weeklong get-aways. The evidence is clear though – give downtime a chance.
People who reported skipping their lunch break were twice as likely to report feeling stressed or burnout from work. (zdnet.com)
There are many ways that you can take time away from your hectic schedule – and release some of these benefits.
Walking and downtime
Getting outside is usually a quick and easy way to escape. Perhaps walk down a river, visit a park, a seashore or some other spot in nature. If you are fit and able, it can be good to walk briskly or jog. Any spot in nature simply because the sight and hints of plants, trees, mountains, sand, and seas are unwinding to the human brain. If you are stuck indoors, walking around inside can have similar effects.
Tune into the nature around you, listen to the environment and enjoy the conversation with the surrounds. Try to avoid listening to audiobooks, or anything that is too taxing. Perhaps listen to some light music.
However, always be aware of the environment around you. The busy road, slippery path, or tripping hazards… could end in a splash if you are not too careful. Try to get out most days as the effect is cumulative.
Getting up and moving around improves cognitive function for about an hour (discovermagazine.com)
Workout
Try to make a routine to visit the gym or workout daily. Substantial exercise makes your body discharge heaps of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These synthetics help you to feel great. They are your mind’s mood chemicals. Exercise is known to cause rapture – a state where you’re practically high on exercise. Hefty exercise may wear your body out. However, it will just relax your mind. The human body was made for this. Exercise will make you more grounded, both mentally and physically. It’ll ease strain and pressure from your body, and it’ll improve the nature of your sleep.
Meditation
Meditation will physically reinforce and settle your mind – you will deal with your feelings, your brain won’t tire close to as quick and so much, and all the more critically, it will give your brain some truly necessary rest from the present day over-incitement. Always remember that regardless of what your identity is, regardless of what you do, regardless of how old you will be, you need to contemplate.
Meditation is the best thing you can do that will significantly improve the nature of your life. For the best results, do it for 10-20 minutes per day, and do it consistently. Using an app like Headspace or Calm might help.
Research reported in Scientific American reports that judging by recordings from an electroencephalogram, 90 days of meditation likely made the brain more efficient, so that it used up less available attention to successfully complete the test.
Sleeping – the great downtime cure
According to many theories, you need 7 to 9 hours of profound rest for your brain to genuinely be refreshed. A few state that they can survive on less, but evidence points us to the requirement of sleep on the regeneration of the human body.
In a 2002 study by Rebecca Smith-Coggins of Stanford University and her colleagues, 26 physicians and nurses working three consecutive 12-hour night shifts napped for 40 minutes at 3 A.M. while 23 of their colleagues worked continuously without sleeping. Although doctors and nurses that had napped scored lower than their peers on a memory test at 4 A.M., at 7:30 A.M. they outperformed the no-nap group on a test of attention, more efficiently inserted a catheter in a virtual simulation and were more alert during an interactive simulation of driving a car home. (scientificamerican.com)
Reading
According to an article in HBR, reading has a big impact on the busy executive. With just 6 minutes of concentrated reading, stress levels have been shown to be reduced by up to 68%. Combine this with evidence that reading can improve intelligence and lead to innovation and insight – you are onto a winner. So, pull out that favoured reading device (paperback or electronic) and read away.
Having a hot bath can help unwind
There is something in particular about warm temperatures and sweat that loosens up the brain. For relaxing, simply stay there for 10 to 15 minutes. The steam and the warmth will loosen up your muscles, and you’ll rest sleep better. We suggest getting a steam shower once every week. Additionally, put in a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in the water when you go for a steam shower, and enjoy the soothing sensation. Also, steam showers are truly useful for the skin. They help eliminate poisons from your body and lift your digestion, so you, in a real sense, consume calories as you unwind.
Get away from cell phones
Watching TV, films, computer games, and so on for what they are – artificial over-incitement. The human brain didn’t advance to have the option to deal with the steady incitement and assortment that fast web can give. The human mind gets “hacked” by the incitement that the fast web and media give – use them in restricted amounts and use them essentially for beneficial purposes. Keep in mind; your brain needs rest to function properly. If you continually besiege it with incitement, it will choke itself to a lower scholarly level. It is a scientific truth. Therefore, give your brain the time it needs to remain fit as a fiddle, and it will give you extraordinary execution.
Eat your favourites
At the point when you need a brisk break, sever a square of dark chocolate to support your mental health and decrease pressure. Dark chocolate is lower in sugar than milk chocolate. However, it hits the sweet tooth sweet spot. You can also enjoy a five-minute break to cut and chomp into a delicious mango. You might get surprised to know that mangos contain a compound called linalool, the fundamental fixing in basic lavender oil. What’s more, you understand what lavender does? It helps in decreasing pressure and uneasiness.
Massage
As opposed to wringing your hands with stress, treat them with a little affection. Simply a five-minute hand massage could help mitigate nervousness. For amazing results, rub your number one cream into your palms. Massage each joint and the webbing between each finger, and flex your wrists. The stretch will help mitigate pressure from unendingly tapping at your console or looking through your telephone. In addition to this, pressure point massage may help mitigate tension.
Coldwater showers
Another way is to cool your hands and face with water and touch some on your heartbeat focuses. Coldwater has an empowering impact.
Enjoy downtime by your self.
A hot bath with bath bombs and candles may sound awesome, yet any space that gives you protection will work. All you need is five minutes alone, an ideal opportunity to get you a small piece nearer to quiet. If your workspace does not create a calming space, pause for a moment to discover a spot for sitting alone. Sit underneath a tree, by a lake, overlooking the sea or simply be quiet. If you can’t get away, add something relieving to your space. Perhaps that is a sweet-smelling cup of homegrown tea or a comfortable sweater.
Give some of these a try and feel that downtime – get closer to your inner self and experience the clarity that downtime will bring you. If you need to have a chat on how to incorporate downtime into your day, reach out here.
