How many evenings do you get home from work feeling tense and exhausted? How many mornings do you get to work and find your inbox is overloaded with emails and your to-do list is showing no sign of getting smaller?

 

We get it, there’s not enough hours in the day. Even though sometimes it feels like you’re never going to get a moment to yourself, taking time out during the day is important.

 

A little time taken consciously each day can significantly reduce stress, increase creativity and lead to a much more productive workplace.

 

Allow yourself headspace to be creative.

Don’t be fooled in thinking that the more hours of work you commit to, the more productive you are. If you’re rushed off your feet, you’re likely to be less efficient in the workplace – overloading your mind – plus you risk burning yourself out.

 

The truth is you need to slow the mind down to speed up. Spending more time to complete tasks enables you to do so with a rational mindset, making less mistakes in the process.  If you have a head clouded full of ideas, having a moment of quiet can allow them to develop and become much clearer. An office massage for just 15-20 minutes will often leave you feeling inspired –  with brand new ideas that didn’t have time to develop beforehand. You’ll achieve more when you’re left feeling inspired and, when you slow down, you may even realise you have more time than you think.

 

Take Time to Reset. It’s a real thing.

One way or another we all experience stress but being under too much emotional or mental pressure for ongoing periods of time can result in serious health complications. Stress can seriously affect your wellbeing but it’s something we’re all able to reduce and manage with the right mental tools.

 

Taking proper, conscious breaks can slow the heart and allow the flight or fight response to reset.  It’s interesting to put how we are in context – the Telegraph reported that in the UK we take the shortest lunch breaks in Europe with two thirds of employees not able to stop work and eat lunch for even 20 minutes.

 

Make a habit of stepping away from your computer and turning off your phone, if only for a short while. Enjoying some fresh air on a brief walk will not only release endorphins, making you feel happier, the time spent away from your screen gives you the opportunity to tackle your workload with a calmer head full of fresh ideas. 

 

The Movement of Slow Thinking

Slow movement is the ‘tortoise and hare’ approach. It’s a method that favours quality over quantity and encourages finding the right speed to work and make decisions with more thought. The idea is, if you recognise when you are working too hard and then take steps to slow down, you ultimately become much more efficient.

 

Mindfulness at work teaches you how to train your mind and thoughts to your best advantage. Being mindful allows you to contemplate ideas properly and it’s something our trained experts strongly believe in:

 

“We introduced mindfulness when we met a practitioner who really inspired us – and the 60 minute clinics have been exceptionally well received. It was powerful to see how much what she was teaching resonated with so many people and how much giving people permission to consciously take time out and allow themselves a break had such an impact,”

 

Amanda Cassidy, RTG Corporate Wellness Delivered.

 

We could all do with slowing down, even on the busiest of days. Not only for our own state of mind but also for in the long run how inspired and productive we will be.