“Your thoughts are not orders. Merely suggestions. You have the power to choose which option to follow.”
– Author James Clear
Wellness Tip:
Detach From Your Thoughts
Negative thoughts can plague us against our will, causing stress and anxiety. But what if we saw those thoughts as separate from us? As things that just… happen?
When we detach from our thoughts in this way, we can choose to ignore them like we would an annoying background noise.
File under: “Stuff that’s easier said than done”! Right?
It’s true, seeing our thoughts in this way isn’t easy. But we can get better at it. It just comes down to practice. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
Mindfulness is one proven strategy to try. “Mindfulness is a useful tool for noticing and extracting yourself from the cycle of unhelpful thoughts,” says an article at Forbes.
Read more here about how it can help, and let us know how it works for you.
Productivity Tip:
Become A Better Problem-Solver
So you have a difficult task… a problem to solve. Maybe you’re putting it off because you have no idea where to start.
Enter neuroscience.
Yep, neuroscientists know stuff about the brain and how we can hack it to be better problem-solvers. Like:
- Make space. Set aside large blocks of time to tackle hard tasks; constantly switching between tasks uses mental energy.
- Work on the problem consistently – ideally at the same time and place every day.
- Minimize distractions and don’t multitask. Remove cues like notifications – even when we don’t respond, they disrupt our attention.
- Interact with others. They can expose us to new perspectives.
This article in Nature goes into more detail. Give it a read and see if it helps you tackle that knotty problem.
Routine Breakdown
Tata Harper, Entrepreneur & CEO
Tata Harper, founder and CEO of the first-ever luxury clean skincare company, enjoys living on a farm and hearing the roosters crowing in the morning. She:
- Wakes up at 6:30 am to get a headstart on the day. Loves to wake up to natural morning light.
- Does a 15-minute meditation before she fully plugs in. “I’ve found that practicing breathing exercises has really helped me feel more centered and focused.”
- Quickly scans through emails and responds to anything urgent.
- Works out. “Working out in the morning has tons of health benefits like lowering blood pressure and helping you to feel balanced and level-headed.”
- Does intermittent fasting until 10:30 am. The first thing she drinks is celery juice.
Why it works:
- Exposure to morning light helps us sleep better and improves our mood.
- Breathing exercises have been shown to quell our stress response.
- Morning workouts do indeed lower blood pressure (among other benefits!).
- Research on intermittent fasting points to multiple health benefits.
Tata’s habit of waking up to natural morning light is a great one. Our bodies respond much better to the rising sun than to the blaring of an alarm clock!
If you can make it work with your schedule, why not give it a shot?
