Take short breaks. A Secret for quick mental performance boost.
Switch off a bit to Switch On
”All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” — Blaise Pascal. (French philosopher)
Have you heard of Circadian Rhythms or Ultradian Rhythms?
Ultradian Cycle. There is an energy cycle for every human that goes up burning all the energy and comes down to heal and go again. It doesn’t strictly have to be a 90–20 minute wave. But something closer to it and it differs for every human.
In Circadian Rhythm, the cycle goes between 16:8 hours Wake Sleep cycle.
It is clear that our body needs rest to get back to the previous energy-full state. It needs that to recover the lost energy. If you’re going to perform at high intensity, you’re going to lose a lot of energy.
If you need to perform at high intensity every time — you need to rest between them. I am talking about ‘mental rest’ than physical one.
Brief Switch Off
You can’t exactly control your mind and switch it off at your whims. At least not everyone can. But we can give a similar experience to your brain.
Meditation looks like a super scam if you’re not trying it consistently for more than a month. But it works.
Meditate for 2 to 5 minutes. (This is a brief one to restore mental energy and it is not how you do proper meditation).
The point here is not to meditate. The point here is to switch your mind away from what’s currently concerning it. That is your current task at hand.
Staying away from what is bothering is just equivalent to rest. Giving the mind the feeling of rest, without shutting it.
Just try not to act or react to anything for a few minutes — even on your thoughts. Just watch them go in different directions. Watch your brain that thinks out of the box. Witness your brain mixing ideas with different areas.
You can now see the new energy barging in.
Distractions
Switching off devices to avoid distraction is just a step, not the actual act of meditating. Avoid things that trigger your thoughts or lead them in undesired directions.
Switch off your mind. Offload your thoughts. Just stay away from the actual tasks that drained you.
Alternatives
If you can’t meditate, just walk for 5 minutes away from the environment of work. Meditate while you walk.
Another alternative is to meditate actively by writing your thoughts. Just like Intermittent journaling, but writing things exactly irrelevant to the task. This will keep your mind away from stressful things for a bit to restore the energy lost.
Do it before switching to another task or project. A quick ’switch-off’ will cleanse your attention residue.
Do it before making decisions. You can’t pour your complete energy and mind into a decision that you don’t completely believe.
Confusion burns up a lot of energy, while clarity produces a lot.
The best way to see the clear water is not to disturb it until the dust settles down. That is exactly doing nothing about it. May look counterproductive — but it is not.
Don’t forget to take a break.
See you next time.
