Procrastination and Anxiety

I’m popping in for a downtime check-in!

Are you giving yourself dedicated time to rest and relax?

To keep in mind: it’s essential to have mind-wandering quiet periods that aren’t activities like watching TV, phone scrolling, or going to a gallery with friends … these are wonderful things to do but they still require the processing of information.

The Cleveland Clinic recommends tasks (if you have trouble sitting still) like nature walks or vacuuming.

The brain is never completely still but these researchers have found that the “Default Mode Network,” or DMN, of the brain gets active in these internally-focused moments – and that means gains in the areas of ethics, memories, creativity, and sense of self.

Downtime gives us time to rest, reflect, and recover from everyday stressors.
Yes, please.

The beautiful irony is space for downtime actually increases productivity, too.

Jonah Lehrer writes in his book, Imagine, “While it’s commonly assumed that the best way to solve a difficult problem is to relentlessly focus, this clenched state of mind comes with a hidden cost: it inhibits the sort of creative connections that lead to breakthroughs.”

Let this be your permission slip and a reminder to decompress – to really, truly, chill out 🙂