I’ve been thinking about this idea of giving my brain a break a lot lately.
I am the kind of person who sometimes gets too excited about new projects and productivity that I forget to take breaks and I get stucked at the end. Then I take a step back, I get better and I start all over again.
This is a repetitive cycle, but I think it shouldn’t be that way. We shouldn’t get to that point where we get stuck our burned-out.
After all, this blog is all about slow paced productivity you could say. In my opinion, progress is more important than the time it takes to achieve a goal or even the result. What I mean by this is that you could have failed in something, but I assure you, you will have learned something from that.
I have learned that productivity is different for each of us. Depending on how active you are, depending on your personality and even your lifestyle, something productive for you might not be productive in the eyes of the other. And who cares about what productivity means to others? It’s you who matters the most. Make your own rules.
I have compared myself to others in terms of productivity for a long time. It bothered me that others could do better, that others could do more, but I couldn’t do it like them. And it is only normal. Because I am me, and not them.
My thinking changed a lot in the last years. It should be that way. We grow, we change, we evolve, we mature. A beautiful process. But it is beautiful if you only see it in its unicity. Your progress is different from other’s and it’s even more beautiful because it’s unique.
In my case, progress is somehow slow. But if I think about it more deeply, I can see this slow progress in the activities that I’ve done for years. It is because I never stopped doing them, I kept them as part of my lifestyle no matter how many times it changed. You could see it as slow progress or as continous improvement.
In the case of languages for example, there is no end to the journey. There is continuous improvement and learning. Whatever it is, progress is still progress. But I might have digressed a little.
Life is busy no matter how much we try to simplify it. There is constant change around us that forces us to adapt and to learn new things everyday. There is instability in the world and the future is unknown to us.
Our brain is so much exposed to heavy loads of information that it can be overwhelming. Actually, I believe that human brains are the most hardworking “things” in the world. I am actually impressed by the human brain and I am always curious to learn more about how our brain works.
In my case, I felt that my brain is very selective with the information it stores, and I felt that sometimes my brain failed me. At work for example, as the environment I work in is very fast paced, changes are the first rule and there is always new information that must be processed, I sometimes feel that my brain can’t keep up anymore.
Then there are also my personal projects, like learning languages for example that are quite challenging, but they don’t tire out my brain that much, because I have built a slow paced learning environment where I am not pressuring myself to get to a certain point in a certain period of time. My only goal is progress.
However, observing that I got more stressed, more sensitive and more tired lately, I thought about what I could do to make it easier for this wonderful brain of mine that supports me in doing so many things. Let me share with you some of the methods I tried and how they worked for me. Remember that this is only my personal experience and my personal view on this subject.
- Disconnect. Doing activities like walking, cleaning, shopping, things that don’t involve thinking, analizing, making decisions or working.
2. Minimize the load of information. I try to not always read in the morning or during breaks, as I did quite frequently lately.
3. Do what gives you joy. Get rid of that stress doing what you like, be it dance, photography out in nature, playing with your pet, even gardening. Do whatever makes you happy.
4. Try journaling.
5. Listen to music or to asmr. For me, fall means more asmr. It is great for self -awareness and for becoming more present in the moment. It is highly relaxing. It can also have the effect of making you more creative when associated with journaling or creative writing.
6. Doodling, drawing or coloring. Focused on my drawing, there’s no space for other thoughts. By the way, my drawing sucks. I love this activity for its calming effects.
7. Just sit and do nothing. Let your thoughts wander. Appreciate the stilness, the silence, the peace. You can do this in your breaks, or before sleep in order to get into that state of being ready to go to sleep. You can also try doing this in the morning too. Be generous and patient to yourself.
Fun fact. When I told my friend what I was going to write about in the next blog post, she told me to add “not going to work” on the list. I told her that I would like that too, but that it wouldn’t be practical. But then it’s up to you. *Our jokes are sometimes just like this one.
I hope we can always set aside time to give our brain a vacation. I am curious if you have any special methods that work for you and that I didn’t mention in my list. Let me know in the comments.
As always, thanks for coming by.
Slow productivity 
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