Donna McGeorge - The 1 Day Refund

Being in flow: Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi coined this term in the 1970s for what happens when we become ‘so immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity that we lose sense of space and time’. And we get more done! Up to 500 per cent more, according to a 10‐year McKinsey study.

Socialising: We get cognitive boosts from social interactions and we also experience higher levels of intellectual performance.

Disconnecting from work: Those of us who are able to disconnect from work are healthier, more engaged when we are at work and less prone to procrastination.

Being less busy isn't the issue. The real opportunity here is to take time out. To stop and take stock of where you are at and make some decisions about how you want to work.

Studies of brainwaves show us that creativity, innovation, inspiration and intuition are only available to us when our brain is in certain states of consciousness.

Have you ever heard someone say, ‘I just can't think clearly!’ or ‘I can't make sense of this!’ or ‘I just don't have the bandwidth for this’? Just ask the parents of a newborn who are not getting enough sleep. Typically, this is because they cannot access sufficiently the brainwave that helps you feel centred, relaxed and creative!

The Dutch principle of niksen means to slow down and opt out of productivity expectations. The idea is you take a big breath, pause, and give your mind and body a chance to rest and reset.

Writers and philosophers have been talking and writing about this for centuries. It's no secret that our aha! moments often happen when we're resting.

In Awakening the Mind , Anna Wise explains that while we rarely use just one kind of brainwave at a time, each has its own job or characteristics. For example:

Beta brainwaves are the most commonly used, and they're the fastest. Typically, these are accessed in a waking state of consciousness or when you're thinking — like now, as you read this book. They help us manage everyday things like driving a car, making judgements and remembering what we need to do. They are responsible for analytical thinking and problem‐solving.

Alpha brainwaves are the next fastest and are typically present when we are in a state of relaxation or distant awareness, such as when we are daydreaming. You can access alpha waves through anything that ‘zones you out’, like watching TV, working on a hobby or even taking a long drive. It's where positive thinking, stress reduction and accelerated learning lives. Its most useful function is to create a bridge between the conscious and subconscious parts of your mind. It's why you remember dreams.

Theta brainwaves are accessed when you sleep, and more specifically in the rapid eye movement (REM) state. It's how we transfer things from short‐term to long‐term memory. If you meditate, you will be aware of the blissful feelings that result when you are able to access this state of consciousness. This is where aha! experiences live. It's where healing begins and it fosters feelings of deep inner peace. And it's also where creativity lives.

Delta brainwaves are the slowest and they belong mainly in the realm of the unconscious mind. They are present when all other frequencies are turned off, giving you the chance to get a good night's sleep. They can sometimes be present in waking states, showing up as intuition, empathy and instinct. When people say that, despite the evidence, ‘I just knew …’, they are probably accessing delta brainwaves.

In a nutshell, if you are not accessing these brainwaves at the appropriate time, you will not have access to the ability to be creative, innovative and intuitive.

So we need to STOP!

To sum up chapter 1in a sentence: we are told that we need to operate at 100 per cent capacity all the time, and anything less is less than optimal — but it's not true!

In chapter 2we learn that there are forms of capacity other than working flat out at 100 per cent!

Begin to reframe boredom as necessary rest. It's okay to have nothing to do.

‘I can't afford to get sick!’ I'm sure we've all said this from time to time. It was Deborah's catchcry. Her household was a typically busy one with two working parents and school‐aged kids.

Deborah is a nursing unit manager at a major hospital and she was 100 per cent ‘on’ pretty much from the moment she arrived at work until her shift finished. She prided herself on being able to nip illness in the bud! Until she experienced an immune system breakdown due to prolonged stress and overload and the varicella virus, or shingles, reactivated in her body.

Because shingles is contagious, she had to take time off work. It was the first time in her life she had taken the time to heal and she saw it as the wakeup call it was. It was time to create some capacity in her world not just to slow down but to give her body a chance to rest. She began to focus on developing the abilities of her team so the workload was more evenly distributed, and this gave her the space to think and lead.

At home, because in the early stages her shingles had been quite severe, the family had had to step up. Once she got better, she didn't take back all the responsibilities she had relinquished.

Encourage your mind to wander:

1 Grab a notebook (or paper) and pen and set a timer for 10 minutes. (A 30‐minute stretch works best, but baby steps, eh?)

2 Write whatever comes into your head. Just release the flow of consciousness. It doesn't matter if what you write doesn't make sense, or even if you admit, ‘I'm writing stuff but I don't know why and this feels stupid, and now I'm thinking about giraffes.’ Keep writing until the alarm goes off.

3 If you can eventually get to a full 30 minutes each day, particularly when you first wake, you'll notice the benefit.

This exercise is based on Julia Cameron's ‘Morning Pages’ from The Artist's Way : ‘They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind — and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritise and synchronise the day at hand.’

Remembering that daydreaming and boredom can be necessary to promote creativity, are you actually bored or is this essential downtime?

How could looking after yourself enable you to serve others better?

What mindfulness technique might you start with? You might begin by simply sitting with stillness and observing the detail around you.

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