Creativity is one of the essential aspects of success. Nothing compares to the sensation of making something from nothing. Whatever it is that you produce—a business, a book, an article, a product, a service—it all started with an idea that you had while you were in a creative frame of mind. You are limiting your achievement if you don’t schedule time for your mind to be free, clear, and open for creation. Although it sounds harsh, but it is true. Also, being creative feels exciting and fresh.
“Focus and simplicity…once you get there, you can move mountains.” ~ Steve Jobs
Creativity Zone
When was the last time you had an amazing “aha” moment while on your laptop or phone? As science will tell you, probably very rarely. We need space and a wandering mind to get into our creativity zone. Some need quiet; others need music. I get my most creative thoughts when I wake up early in the morning or when I am alone & looking for a solution to a problem. This also works wonderfully, when you have a clear problem, then your subconscious mind acts on it and provides ways to solve it. Be open as the solution may come directly through you or by some other means.
Do you know where you need to be to get into your creativity zone? If you don’t know where that place is, find it and make at least one day every week to unplug yourself. Let your imagination go wild in this place as you take in the surroundings and let your mind once more become fertile for creative thoughts. Schedule unplugged time to open your mind and be present. Deep breaths. Let your mind take a walk and see where it goes.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” ~ Pablo Picasso
Digital Wellness (Research)
The conversations are happening; researchers, scientists, journalists, and wellness advocates are all working on figuring out how tech is affecting our health. Help is on the way for us to be able to make informed decisions on the importance of managing our digital lives in business. The Global Wellness Institute is a non-profit organization that educates people all over the globe on the benefits of preventive health and wellness.
In April 2018, the Institute released a white paper titled “Wellness in the Age of the Smartphone” as part of its Digital Wellness Initiative. The initiative is led by Jeremy McCarthy (Group Director of Spa & Wellness, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group). Sandy Abrams, the author of ‘Breathe To Succeed’ spoke with Jeremy about his research and find out: “The problem with technology is not that it is bad, it is that it is too good. The attraction of technology and its many benefits draws us away from other aspects of life. Our modern devices are so exciting, in fact, that we sometimes don’t realize the sacrifices we are making along the way. While enjoying technology, we choose desk activities over movement, we choose virtual relationships over real ones, and we choose to consume information rather than reflect or take action on the things we have learned.”
The white paper analysis is eye-opening and the mission “is not to denounce technology, but to fully appreciate and recognize the benefits while creating greater awareness of the associated opportunity costs.” Check out the paper if you want to read more. The study found that technology negatively impacts our health: sleep; inactivity, obesity, physiological health; mental wellness; social relationships and loneliness; distraction and safety; and productivity. Are any one of those sectors suffering a bit in your life?
In addition to the Global Wellness Institute, many advocates exist for living healthy, tech-centric business lives. One outspoken activist, author, and speaker for wellness in the business sector who clearly stands out is Arianna Huffington. She founded the Huffington Post in 2005, sold it to AOL in 2011, and left in 2016 to launch a new digital wellness platform called Thrive Global. She’s a prolific writer about the topic of well-being after breaking her cheekbone while falling asleep at her desk, overworked and exhausted. Huffington has been a leading voice in workplace wellness and the importance of a proper night’s sleep ever since.
Thrive Global is a wealth of health-centric inspiration, content, and resources that cover a great deal for workplace wellness in both corporate and small business sectors. She has formed impactful partnerships recently with brands like SAP and Zenefits to use technology and innovation to help us all move from “surviving to thriving” as we learn to create a healthy relationship with technology and innovation.
Ideas for Unplugging Yourself
Here are some simple yet impactful ideas for “unplugging”:
- Go old school: Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee at a cafe and don’t touch your phone; put it out of sight. Do you remember the pre-tech days at a coffee shop? You may have had a book or newspaper with you, or you may have just enjoyed your beverage. Rest your brain. Get comfortable with being confident enough to sit and not look at a screen. We’ve come to feel odd if we’re in public and just looking around. Breathe and relax. People-watching is a lost art, and it’s super entertaining.
- Buy some (real paper) books, magazines, or newspapers and keep them readily available at your office. Enjoy the experience of unplugged reading where you won’t be disturbed by notifications or Googling something while reading that leads you down a rabbit hole. That’s the problem—clicking on links within articles that lead to more articles and links and ten minutes somehow become an hour.
- Redesign some of your lunch times to be unplugged. Don’t eat in front of your screen. Schedule some lunches or business dinners around the idea of fully enjoying being unplugged and engaged.
- Get outside for even for ten minutes during the day. Go for a walk alone or with a colleague. Work doesn’t always have to be done in the office. Take a business call or participate in a brainstorming session while walking outside. Nature is such a powerful rejuvenator. Fresh air is medicine for the soul. Sunshine is a vitamin. Breathe it in whenever possible!
- Turn off your phone for one hour a day. It’s silly how empowering this can be.
- Think about what you used to do that made you feel creative, happy and completely in your element . . . that thing you did where minutes turned into hours while you enjoyed making, creating, tinkering, or doing. Do that again . . . without your phone.
- Say goodnight to your electronics for at least two hours (okay, maybe start with one) before bedtime, and don’t even think of touching it if you wake up in the middle of the night. According to Larry Rosen, professor of social psychology at California State University at Dominguez Hills and author of iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us, “Exposure to the blue light from a device stops production of the sleep hormone melatonin, so it’s harder to fall asleep.” Keep your phone out of your bedroom at night. Breathe through that temptation.
We need to unplug so that we can experience more conscious connectedness and not lose precious minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or even years (it adds up!) of moments that we aren’t fully experiencing. Remember, you’re not taking something away but rather you’re giving yourself something back in the form of time, connection, health, and ultimately more success. (Excerpt is from “Breathe To Succeed” by Sandy Abrams).
