It can be difficult to be productive as often as we need to be to keep our careers moving at a reasonable pace. Sometimes, you just hit a mental block. Whether you are overwhelmed, tired, feel fresh out of ideas, or are otherwise distracted, sometimes taking a quick break in the middle of your day can do wonders for productivity. Here are 5 simple things you can do after hitting a wall to refresh your mind and win the workday.
1. Practice mindfulness
Looking for an influx of oxygen to your brain to help jumpstart your productivity during the day? Lucky for us, we have begun to understand the benefits of meditation and moments of silence on our own. Mindfulness practices show promise in reducing mental health symptoms, boosting self-esteem and performance, and overall stress reduction, among other incredible benefits.
Deep breathing techniques–which are often involved in meditation practices–can actually help cleanse your body of free radicals and support your immune system. Besides helping to recalibrate our minds, deep breathing can provide an emotional dive into our core selves. The Western world commonly uses it for stress relief and emotional release. However, it often encourages wide-ranging reactions like increased clarity and emotional purging.
Even if you aren’t looking for a profound reaction from your mindfulness practice, productivity is a direct result of focus. Focus is something enacted during mindfulness practices of all types. Incorporating this mindset into your day – even for 5-10 minutes at a time – can work wonders long-term for innovation within your career.
2. Read a book
Honestly, reading anything that isn’t located on a screen can really help you disconnect and improve your mind. This is especially true in the middle of a brain block. “The number one thing I think people need to do more of is long-form reading, 15 to 30 minutes of picking up any kind of book,” explains neuroscientist and author of Biohack Your Brain Kristen Willeumier, Ph.D. “[When] the brain learns, [it] forms these cognitive maps. So the more reading you’re doing as you age will still keep your brain sharp.”
Reading is an optimal way to escape the stressors of everyday life and indulge in a fantasy world. This literally lowers stress levels. Knowing something isn’t based on real-life can help to ease your natural fight or flight response. This opens your brain up to enjoy more of the information being presented. Even non-fiction reading can provide a perspective that inspires the rest of your day.
3. Get moving
Movement is the best preventative medicine. The body’s systems regulate better with more movement and agility. Exercise raises your heart rate, triggering energy production and regulation. It also releases endorphins into your body that are necessary for coping with pain and stress throughout the day. Regular exercise is scientifically proven to prevent heart attacks, strokes, obesity, cancers, diabetes, and more. Not only this, but it can improve concentration and learning and memory capabilities, helping you to function better in every aspect of your life.
According to a study published by the US National Library of Medicine, “Exercise has vast beneficial effects on a multitude of organs and body systems and delays aging-associated losses in cognitive function, osteoporosis, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, certain site-specific cancers, depression and immunity.”
The level of exercise necessary for each person depends on their own personal lifestyle. Even incorporating slow, cortisol-conscious movement can drastically manage stress. If you find yourself maxed out on emotions, with heightened anxieties and feelings of burnout, try yoga or stretching. In fact, yoga is directly linked to hippocampus growth, the area of the brain that controls information retention.
Without regular exercise, basic functioning is almost impossible, and symptoms of aging can progress more rapidly than usual. When possible, take a break here and there for regular movement to keep the blood flow going and productivity up.
4. Get outside
When you can, take some of your movement outside. The earth is like a battery for all living things. Besides the many implications of electric charges and natural fossil fuels, this living, breathing organism is a mechanism that keeps everything running. While we may have dismissed the magic associated with the earth in early childhood memories and pop culture, there is overwhelming evidence to support that Mother Earth does, indeed, have some sort of integral connection to – and influence overall living cells.
“Emerging scientific research supports the concept that the Earth’s electrons induce multiple physiological changes of clinical significance,” notes a study published in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Connecting with these electrons is proven to aid sleep, reduce pain, and even shift your autonomic nervous system to a more relaxing threshold from sympathetic to parasympathetic. Grounding increases respiratory rate and function through the breath, and can significantly impact cardiovascular health.
Incorporating outdoor activities into your routine can optimize your body’s function with access to fresh air, sunshine, plants, animals, and other environmental factors. Earthing–or grounding–is a relaxing technique that allows you to connect with the earth in a tangible, precise, and natural way. Unlike electrical currents, earthing and grounding are used interchangeably in this meditative practice, which simply involves physical touch with the earth’s surface at some capacity.
5. Incorporate plants into your surroundings
Your workspace is an important place and should be set up to inspire and nurture your efforts. Not set up to work outside? That’s okay! You can bring the outdoors–and better chances at fresh air–inside with a selection of indoor plants.
Research routinely suggests that plants may reduce physiological and psychological stressors in the body. Plants help to increase air quality by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. They can also help clean the air of toxins, which can lead to clouded judgment and mental and physical health issues, among other symptoms. According to greenery & horticulture experts, the psychological extent of manipulating your work surroundings can go beyond standard KPI performance, but up to breakthrough cognitive changes.
Even without the direct health benefits of our green friends, the act of pausing your workday to tend to your plants is almost meditative. Having something to take care of can provide a perspective you otherwise would not have, and watering your plants will often remind you to hydrate yourself.
Check this out for more productivity hacks and habits to incorporate from the good brains at Hive.
