Are you usually so busy that you spend your day going from one task to the next with no time to breathe?
And when you hit the pillow at night your mind suddenly becomes very active. Reminding you of all the things that were left undone, reliving past experiences, worrying about the future etc.
Well, that usually happens when you don’t give yourself enough down time.
During the day, when you’re going about your activities, your mind is in auto pilot. Going through the motions of daily life without much conscious input.
You see, while you were helping the kids with homework, dealing with work meetings, or returning calls while grocery shopping, your mind was holding back other matters, like a problem you need to resolve or concerns about the future.
The moment you stop, the mind has a chance to catch up with you and bring up what was on the back burner. As you know, this can be quite annoying specially when you’re trying to get some well-deserved sleep.
But don’t get mad at your mind. It’s only trying to help you be more effective and get things done.
So in order to help you mind help you, you may want to consider scheduling some white space.
White space is a quiet time without any activity that requires focused attention. Let’s call it a mental break.
This can be a leisure walk in the park, a sit down with a cup of coffee or a relaxing hobby (like crocheting, painting, listening to music).
Reading (or listening to) a book, watching TV or scrolling social media do not count as white space as your mind is directed to a specific subject.
The good news is that you don’t need tons of time in it. You just need to be strategic. For instance, finding a quiet spot during your lunch break where you could spend 5 minutes simply observing your surroundings. Think of it as recharging your batteries. 😌
Now you must be alone and leave your phone behind, so nothing interrupts your contemplation.