110% Looking at ‘Switching Off’
Whilst searching through content this week, our research team came across this Telegraph article about ‘Switching Off’.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/mood-and-mind/how-to-find-your-brains-off-switch/
Even though it was written a year ago, it really hit me as something we should be giving thought to. Some important notes from the article:
A recent study of 3,000 UK workers showed that 69 per cent are regularly required to work outside of their official hours.
Oxford scientists claim we now get between one and two hours’ less sleep than we did 60 years ago.
Research by Microsoft suggested that the internet age has left humans with attention spans even shorter than that of goldfish.
Professor Cropley then describes the alarming health issues connected with overworking and stress. In conclusion, we should all be finding ways to ‘switch off’. But what does this mean? The article suggests different methods: ‘sitting quietly for 20 minutes’, ‘creating a relaxing ritual’, ‘make time for something you have a natural interest in’. In a world where time is both a finite and precious, sitting down quietly for 20 minutes may feel like a waste. Equally when you’ve had a stressful day, you may not have the energy for doing an activity that isn’t drinking, eating, or sleeping.
This could be a good point to add in Susan Jeffer’s concept of needing balance (author of Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway).
This table is an example of using Jeffer’s model for a ‘whole’ life. According to her we need to invest in more than one area of our life. The task is to fill out a 3x3 box similar to this with the important areas of your life. It makes sense; if you are putting all your energies into one thing, be it work, relationships, hobby, it puts a lot of pressure on that particular area. So perhaps we shouldn’t view ‘switching off’ as just pressing an ‘off’ button in our brains, but see it as investing in another element of our lives. Whether this is exercise, a hobby, seeing friends, or reading a book, it’s a matter of getting a healthier balance and investing in yourself.
So perhaps the goal is no longer ‘relaxing’ or switching off, it’s finding the other elements in your life that are important to you, and making room for those. At least if you’ve had a dreadful day, you have a meal with friends planned, or you’re playing a team sport, or you’ve got theatre tickets booked. Balance generally encourages growth and perspective.
With this in mind, I’ve been trying to insert a little bit more balance. It is tough, because let’s be honest, work is hard, and the first thing you want to do after a long day is grab a glass of wine, eat pasta, and watch easy television.
To combat this I’ve drawn my own table of the elements I would ideally like to include in my life. It seems I need to work on self-development and find a hobby.
So I’ll be:
- Cutting down television time
- Scheduling my evenings around the other important themes.
I’m interested to see if this approach will help me feel more relaxed and less stressed, or if ironically, it will just pile on another layer of anxiety that I’m not balancing my life out properly. Time and effort will tell.