Take a pause…

Do you feel like you have too much to do each day? Is life racing along with you just about hanging on? Busy, busy, busy, we’ve made a culture of glorifying busy, of not being able to stop. Now, as lockdown eases, we might feel the pressure to be doing all the other things that we couldn’t do before, just because we can.

I vote we take a pause, take a pause to reflect, and make it a daily habit.

Researchers at the University of California conducted an experiment where they gave rats a new experience and measured their brain waves during and after the activity. Under most circumstances a new experience will express new neural activity and new neurons in the brain, that is, if the rat is allowed to have down time. With down time, the neurons made their way from the gateway of memory to the rest of the brain where long term memory is stored. The rats were able to record memories of their experiences which is the basis for learning.

So, if you want to create more memories, learn new things, learn from your mistakes or just get more out of life, it’s all about hitting that pause button at some point during the day… do your brain a favour and give it time to process everything it needs to. You’ll find your motivation lies in the pause too – listen here to find out more.