Give Yourself a Break Today

Today started off with a few issues in my personal and work life followed by Twitter getting hacked and giving all the accounts 0 followers including Kim Kardashian and Ashton Kutcher who had 3 million followers each. I started to feel panicked and my mind started to race. I could not sit still and started to stress out. Then I stopped the panic and made myself a nice breakfast and sat at the dining table and ate it slowly and mindfully while making sure to enjoy every bite.

What came next is what everyone should do when stress starts to take over and overwhelm your mind and body. I looked around and decided to prioritize what absolutely needed to be done today and made a list of what could be done tomorrow. Then I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and breathed for 10 minutes and meditated. Then I took 10 more minutes to stretch and started to work on my list. An hour later I took a 10 minute break and sat in my garden to look at the sky and the birds. I then returned to my office to continue working for another hour. After an hour, I took another 10 minute break where I scanned the Wall Street Journal and New York Times online. It goes on like this until my work is done for the day.

Google is a work place that has an 80/20 work policy which means they ask their employees to take 20 percent of their work hours during the day to daydream, meditate, go for a walk, workout, or take a nap. The reason they do this is because they know that employees are more creative and productive when they are given time to refresh their minds and relax. Many of their revolutionary business ideas were realized because of their company philosophy. Their employees are very happy in their work environment which benefits Google in return.

Since Google's forward thinking philosophy does not exist in lots of corporate environments. It is important for us to take the time for ourselves when we can to improve our personal and professional lives. Use your lunch hour to take time to relax instead of running around doing errands or working through lunch. If you have time to yourself on the weekends take a walk by yourself. Or go on a hike with your kids or pets to clear your mind of worries. Enjoy every single moment in your life when you are cooking, eating, or spending time with family. Live and savor all the little moments of your life and really allow yourself to enjoy that great cup of coffee when you have 5 or 10 minutes to do nothing. Allow yourself to do nothing. It is important. Your mind and body will pay you back by helping you work through your work challenges and life challenges after it has had a chance to recharge its batteries.

Enjoy the sun today and if it is raining where you are listen to the rain fall. Life is to be experienced. Give yourself a break today.