🔌 Time to unplug
That's why I find it really useful and important
🇮🇹 👉 Italian version [LINK HERE]
After two weeks of radio silence, 'Did you Know❓' reappears on your radar screen.
If you're wondering why I disappeared out of the blue, it's because two Mondays ago it was Easter Monday and April 25 is a holiday in Italy, so I decided to take a whole week off, dedicate some time to myself and disconnect from everything. Even from this commitment, I had made at the beginning of the year.
But now here I am again. I am in Mantua, sitting on a swing at a friend's house, relaxing, as I write to you. I am here for the traditional Labor Day barbecue, but I don't want to escape from my project.
I have recharged enough and now I am writing to you with new energy.
❓ Why do I find it useful and important to unplug from time to time?
I have learned over the years that time is the most precious resource we have, I have written about it here, and time with and for ourselves is even more so.
Unplugging and doing something for myself, without thinking about work, commitments, and maybe even without having a precise plan, personally recharges me.
I recognise that it may not be the same for everyone, but I have to say that I benefit from it, so much so that I have learned to unplug, even if only for 5 minutes, in my daily work to get some energy back and for refocus.
📌 Reading articles, listening to podcasts and Ted Talks, what I have brought home to me is that breaks, digital detoxes, are about finding our centre, getting back in touch with ourselves, recharging our energy, and then being ready to face a new time and new challenges.
👉 You can unplug even during working hours
And personally, when I do this, even for just 5 minutes before a meeting, I benefit enormously and I'll tell you briefly how I learned to do it.
The curious thing is that it took me years to get started, even though I had a great example in front of me: the Vice President West Europe of the company for which I work normally takes breaks between meetings, which is essential for him.
Between the most intense and important meetings, he takes half an hour to go for a walk, and get some air to clear his mind.
Doing mindfulness exercises via the headspace app or on Netflix I kept hearing this thing that “even a couple of minutes of concentration on breathing can create benefit”.
During these two years of the pandemic, which has allowed me to revise my time management a little, I have started, before some important meetings, to take 10 to 15 minutes to relax, concentrate and review the purpose of the meeting and the important things I need to say and address.
In doing so, day after day, I have increased the effectiveness of my meetings and, as a further result, my feeling of accomplishment.
Today I am facilitated, partly because since the beginning of the year we have had a programme in the company that helps us to reduce the time of meetings (from 1 hour to 45 minutes or from 30 minutes to 25 minutes), with the specific aim of leaving some time for decompression between meetings.
👉 And this is how taking a break, even just for 5 minutes, during my working day has become a good and productive habit.
It may sound strange, and for many, it certainly will, but I invite you to try this technique for at least two weeks and then tell me about the effects you experience.
🎯 Take a 15-minute break before an important meeting made up in this way:
5 minutes to relax, maybe listening to music or doing breathing exercises, but disconnect from what you were doing before.
5 minutes to focus on what you are going to do, reviewing the highlights, the objective of the meeting, and what you want to accomplish.
5 minutes to recharge your batteries with positive energy and positive thinking.
Personally, this method is helping me a lot.
📜 👉 What do you think about the need for a break to perform more? Do you also unplug and recharge during your working day?
Let me know in the comments!
As always, I'm happy to help you learn more. If you'd like to have a sparring partner or have a chat about this or other topics, feel free to leave a comment and I'll be in touch.
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#BeCurious #BeFocus
Giuseppe