Do this simple thing to make your brain work better

For all the hours we’re intensely focusing, working, pushing for deadlines and trying to be productive, there are times when we need something … softer. 

How about this : do you like the idea of ‘soft fascination’?

It sounds a little dreamy, a little curious, and as it turns out, highly recharging and refreshing. 

Overworking our attention wears it out. There isn’t a never ending supply. We have to recharge. Frequently. 

Some of the research suggests that we have about 4 hours of sustained effort in us before we need a recharge. 

So when you do recharge, try some ‘soft fascination’. It’s where we let our eyes relax, drift and go here and there. 

It’s different to sustained focus. And different to white wall boredom. 

Nature is the best place for us to enjoy in this activity of soft fascination. 

You don’t even have to go into nature for it to work. Looking out the window at nature will do. 

I love getting into nature whenever I can for this exact purpose. Walks. Beaches. Sunsets. Trees. Flowers. Weather. 

It’s all a vital part of helping make our brains work better.

Read more about it in this article in Inc. Magazine by Jessica Stillman.

What to do when you dread the week ahead

Mondayitis is when it hits but many of us feel the dread of the working week before that, while we’re still in the weekend!

An article labels the ‘Sunday Scaries’ that feeling when you’re already overwhelmed by what’s ahead and you haven’t even started the working week yet!

Do you dread? 

I’ve had job roles, commitments, projects and colleagues that absolutely made me feel dread-full about Mondays … and I’d feel the dread approaching on Sundays. 

More recently, I’ve aimed to set up Mondays as a day of ease. I try to protect the day with some breaks, space, a gradual start to the week, not a slap in the face with the hardest task, toughest meeting or most annoying people. 

I think that ‘start with the hardest task first’ advice is dated productivity BS that sets off overwhelm in a second!

This article suggests 5 things we can do on Sundays to make them less scary. 

If it’s not work time yet, outsmarting the overwhelm of dread makes the weekend more enjoyable and doesn’t make us work hard ahead of time. 

Read the article here 

5 Tips for Better Thinking

Here they are … because better thinking leads to better decisions and results and outcomes. 

1. Think about thinking
2. Be aware of loops
3. Add to your mental model toolbox 
4. Make diversity the rule not the exception 
5. Remember emotional agility (and Susan David, Ph.D. book ‘Emotional Agility’ is a beauty!)


Read more about each of these five tips in this Entrepreneur Media article by Aytekin Tank from JotForm

The most important person to influence

Much is written about influence: how to use it, who is impacted by it and how to get more of it. 

Of all the people you focus on influencing, do you put effort into influencing yourself? 

Do you know what to do to change your state, how you’re feeling, or what you’re doing? 

Rather than just accepting things for how they are or ‘going with the flow’, a more deliberate practice is to be able to influence yourself. 

To shift and change how you think and respond to things. 

For example, if you have times when you’re anxious or overwhelmed, what do you do? Do you have a go-to list of remedies and reliefs? 

Sniff an orange. 

No, that’s not a typo. It’s one of the suggestions in this neat list of 28 ‘little’ things to do in times of anxiety. 

There are some we might have heard of before like writing things down, exercising or being grateful, but there are some wonderful new tips too 

Bookmark it if it’s something you - or someone you love, live or work with might benefit from. 

It could help you be more influential. 

Do the switcheroo on your thinking

How readily and easily might you be able to change your mind? What would it take? 

The more cognitive flexibility you have, the better able to respond and adapt to change you’ll be. 

It makes sense, right, but still we see people ‘dig in’, ‘stick to their guns’, ‘hold the line’. But in these times of crazy change and uncertainty, convicted beliefs may be more practical if they loosened up a little. 

Rather than being hung up on building your smarts and clever, are you cognitively flexible?

This article from The Conversation UK by Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Christelle Langley and Victoria Leong shares more detail. 

In essence…

“Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it.”

How easily can we switch between concepts and adapt our behaviours? 

Or do we defend, resist and stay? 

Perhaps we could trick or hack ourselves to try some different ways of thinking. 

What would it take for you to try?