Is your mind struggling to keep up with your pace?
The pace of our lives..
..is fast. And it seems to only get quicker. We work hard, we surf between numerous digital tools & platforms, we have careers & kids, we take care of our physical health, we run from a to b, and we compare our pace to others - to ensure we feel a little bad about our pace and push ourselves to go even faster.
Our mind however, is still quite the same as it was 10 000 years ago, and our mind needs to process everything that happens. If we don’t give time for this during the day - our mind will do it in the night, often impacting negatively the quality and quantity of our sleep.
If we run each day non-stop from morning to evening without time for calm contemplation, discussions with friends/spouses, reflection, this leads to many of us processing things in our mind once we finally go to bed. I have personally lived many years thinking in bed about everything that is going to happen and that has happened, delaying my sleep with 1-2 hours each evening.
As hunterers & gatherers we processed life while walking, around fires in the evenings, and little by little along the day. So how can we nowadays make time for processing life AS life is happening, and not late at night in bed, or even worse - waking up at 3-4am and not falling asleep anymore?
In order to process things our mind needs the following: access to the calm prefrontal cortex (not survival brain stress thinking) and time. Anyone can access the prefrontal cortex - become completely mindful right now about what you see, lean back and ask yourself: what is truly important right now? There. Feel the difference?
An unreflected event - is no event at all. By reflecting we build our bank of knowledge & memories so that we know what we know and don’t need to feel impostor syndrome.
Tips for mental hard-drive processing
What could work for you? What could you add or increase in your life?
A walk/jog between work and bedtime - giving air to our brain increases it’s processing power
Journaling 2-3 hours before bed: journal your thoughts - AND link these to the emotions they are creating & conceptualise your emotions into images for deeper processing. Ie: anxious about meeting tomorrow - worried I will freeze, the anxious feeling is in my chest and feels like a tight rope. Your mind is forced to link thoughts - emotions - physical sensations.
Spending time with others talking and discussing.
Sitting down with a mentor or coach on a regular basis
Any other hobby that allows you to relax - that takes your mind to another place - that forces you to focus in the moment and be fully present.
Meditation, breathing exercises, being outdoor
Endless others - what could support you and how could that positively impact your sleep and self-confidence?
Feel free to use attached template for reflection or book a free 30 minute chemistry session to see how coaching could support you and build your confidence, peace of mind & improve your sleep.
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