If you are too busy to read this, you definitely should.

Most of my leadership coaching and business therapy clients are feeling stressed out. They feel the pressure, but feel they can’t stop? Do you feel the same?

Most of us spend our time rushing from one thing to the next. Life seems to be a continuous to do list and we never get most of it done.

You’re already skim reading this article, aren’t you?

If we aren’t putting pressure on ourselves, we have pressure from others. A senior leader I know sent her boss 4 sides of A4, of all the things she had been asked to do with the message that she simply didn’t have time to do it all. He wrote back saying he had re-prioritised it for her (having no understanding of her skills) and to just carry on! We'll come back to coaching and managers in another blog!

The pressure WILL get to you. It’s a fact that a certain amount of pressure can be good, we do some of our best work under pressure, but there’s a threshold limit. If you are aware of your limits, then you can use this pressure balance to your benefit. However, if you aren’t, then you are heading for burnout and illness. Most of us have ‘tells' that show us we are pushing it. For me, my shoulders go up, I snap at people, I eat loads of sweet food and I’m clumsy. Today I sprayed perfume directly into my eyes – thank god for my unconscious primitive brain which sensed danger, shut my eyes and kept them shut! After blinding myself for a week with hairspray as a child in exactly the same way, it clearly learnt its lesson.

The image above is from some research I took part in a few years ago. The researchers mapped my brain waves with images, pink, blue, green vines, butterflies in yellow. I was initially asked to sit quietly in a room for 5 minutes as a sample of normal tv, (not at all normal for me so quite relaxing anyway!) Then I was asked to watch a mindful video – sunsets etc. Which picture do you think is me relaxing and being mindful? All my coaching clients get this wrong and I did too. 

Did you pick correctly?

The one of me being most relaxed was the one on the left. Look at how much activity there is going on in my brain! I had allowed my brain to down tools for a little and look at how creative it gets! Even considering I was relaxed more than normal in the graphic on the right, my brain waves are low. I hate to imagine how they are when I’m rushing around actually living. This graphic had such a visual effect on me that it stuck and whenever I’m feeling busy and in that ‘I don’t have time to stop’ mode. I stop… because that is exactly when I need to! This is one of the first things I 'teach' my leadership clients who rush from pillar to post all day and then do the same when they get home. You’re actually wasting your own time.  

Multiple studies have shown that when we add in relaxation time, even just 10 seconds to a minute, we allow our brain to pause and reboot and because of this it becomes even more efficient and productive at our next task. I recommend this to all the people I work with especially those in leadership who are caught on the treadmill of life. By doing nothing, you are doing something, it WILL pay off.

One of my coaching clients said, ‘I had a meeting to prepare for and instead I drifted into the garden, did weeding and then I played the piano.’ He said the meeting was creative and went well. I explained that looking at his actions he had awakened those bits of his brain and his meeting reaped the benefits.

To keep on top of work, keep on top of your downtime.

Once an hour just take even 10 seconds - longer if you can - to switch off what you are doing, look out of the window, walk around, shut your eyes, listen to some music… just… breathe… it will help you stay focused and help you access your inner calm core and let your brain create fireworks.

To work with me about finding your sense of calm and for boosting your productivity, contact me now.