5 Ways To Take Mental Breaks At Work

What to do when overthinking is your favorite hobby.

We live in a time of constant stimulation, whether it is an email pinging, a slack notification, or someone texting you for something unimportant, we are literally being “notified” at all hours of the work day (and beyond).

Not only does this make it challenging to get work done, it is causing havoc on our nervous systems leading to exhaustion and eventually burnout.

The experts may say, “mindfulness is the answer”, and while we do agree, we also recognize that most of us don’t have a meditation pillow and incense holder sitting close by during our work day.

For those of us who don’t have the luxury of being unavailable, we have to find creative ways to reset our overthinking brains in small pockets of time throughout the day.

Here are five ways to reset when your brain needs a break.

Look For Something Green

Researchers are finding that our brains and behaviors are significantly impacted by time in nature. If you can’t get out for a walk in the woods, simply focusing on something green is a great place to start. Whether it is a live or fake plant or simply a grassy area or tree outside, taking a few moments to focus on it and ground can provide relief.

Notice your surroundings

Taking your eyes off your screens can help you come back to the present moment and settle your overthinking patterns. Look around and notice the details of things like the woodgrain of your furniture, the pattern of the carpet, or any other shapes, textures, or patterns. Using visual focus to really see things in front of you helps to calm the swirling thoughts.

Walk It Out

A quick break to walk it out is a great way to reset that doesn’t involve a scrolling motion. Even 5 minutes can improve your mood and re-energize. A study reported on by New York Times, showed that short walk breaks throughout the day proved to be more effective than long exercise periods.

Set Up Phone Free Zones

If you take your phone to the bathroom, this is a great place to start. We are constantly going from one screen to another. Set up the zones where phones are not allowed, starting with the bathroom, breakroom or kitchen.

Brain Dump

A brain dump is an exercise to help you get thoughts onto paper, so that you can stop overthinking. Set a timer for 2 minutes and let yourself write down everything that is swirling in your mind. Don’t judge, simply write it all out for an immediate stress relief.