How do you turn off?
While working throughout the day I set myself tasks that I need to get done, this normally keeps me quite busy and leaves no time for thinking long term goals and ideas. The problem is, once I turn the computer off, my mind goes into a different direction. I find myself thinking of new ideas or how I could do things better. This is the worst when I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I'm sure it's not just me who goes through this, I'd love to know any tips on how everyone here disconnects to create that right balance.
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I'd write all the things that pops up in my mind on a piece of paper, usually it takes 5 mins. For me writing them down makes me feel secure. It's like hitting Ctrl+S while editing a document, the current progress will be kept and you know it's safe to turn off!
Good idea! Paper is probably better than my phone, as whenever I go to the notepad, the screen wakes me up more.
Strongly recommend reading the book Do Nothing [1].
Once you realize how important leisure time is not just to your own health but also to your productivity, you'll be able to take it more seriously and commit. The book isn't about doing nothing - it's about helping ambitious people realize the importance of leisure time and building it into your schedule.
Personally, two of my favorite leisure activities are hiking and cooking - especially a new recipe.
[1] https://celesteheadlee.com/do-nothing-book/ (Recently posted about this in another thread)
Thanks Cara, I'll add that to my list. It's completely true how easy work can consume off time.
Hey! I have struggled a bit with this too! I do a 'closing off' journalling session at the end of the workday. If you are specifically thinking about long term goals/ideas, you can specifically ask yourself questions related to that giving a chance for all of those thoughts. Some examples:
-> How was my day? (marking 'end of the day')
-> How am I doing in terms of my long term goals + what's next?
-> What can I do tomorrow to meet them?
-> What are some new ideas/ things that I can test tomorrow?
-> What was my favourite part of the day? (Triggering unwinding)
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Yesterday I also did a 'mind dump'/ 'clear everything during dinner time.
It was nice to release everything on my mind in 2 mins.
And then kinda just get on with the evening, more relaxed :)
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Hope this helps :)
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You seem to have a lot of cool ideas and a lot of work going on, will be awesome to see what comes next. All the best :)
This is great advice, I'm going to try this today. Thanks a lot!
How did it go? :)
Disconnect multiple times in a day.
shut off everything.
meditate.
I struggle with this all the time. I'm so focused on solving the problems and thinking of "the next steps" that I forget to turn off and take a break.
Sometimes I just have to tell myself that I'm digging a bigger hole and I need to let my brain relax and just process things for a day or so. I try to stay active and take walks in the morning just to have some time to myself before the daily routine starts demanding my attention.
I also recently added walks to my morning routine and I agree it had been very helpful to get the day started.
Personally, I've tried meditation and everything in-between and my mind continues to race a mile a minute. It's an unpopular opinion, but what works for me is watching mindless TV. The logic is that it's stimulating enough to keep the mind from wandering elsewhere, but not too stimulating that it's going to exhaust your mind. I usually fall asleep to the TV.. again unpopular opinion, but it works for me 🤷♀️
I haven't got around to meditation but I'll give it a go. I'm guilty of falling asleep to tv also, but it has to be reruns or I stay up haha
Hah, i struggle with this as well. Meditation sometimes helps. Or just taking a day off from work & do something completely different.
Physical activity is a good way to slow down your body and your mind from "working". I'm not much of a workout guy though. I bought a bike last year. Taking a ride to back roads help me not think about stuff. I focus on my riding and time flies by. Also, tv shows. I've been binging 30 Rock for past 2 weeks. Comedy tv shows are great distraction for me.
It appears I'm in the same boat as @junji when it comes to being stuck inside. Once this quarantine is lifted, I'll try to add excercise after my workday and see how that goes. Thanks!
Haven't exercised for a while because of lockdown. Today I took a jog, and i felt great after. Then I couldn't sleep perhaps my body is too excited 🤷♂️
I use Post-it notes. If your mind has ideas, it wants you to write them down. Once you pull out all of things in your mind, you can rest now.
Other options would be morning or night pages.
I bought a Novation Launchpad Mini and started making music. Haven't had such a great switch in a long time.