How Brain Breaks Solve Problems
Your brain loves a routine but if the routine does not suit the problem you need to do nothing and watch how the solution comes to mind very quickly
Your brains need a break if it can’t solve a problem.
Although brains love to go at full tilt and be extremely effective at this speed they can be just as effective when they do nothing.
Because, if we think so much about something we are putting so much fuel into it that we can’t see the woods from the trees. And even though the focus we create can be effective it can also stop us from seeing things that are very obvious to others.
And although you need to work hard to be rewarded you can miss a trick if you don’t step back to take a pause.
If you do your brain will reward you with clarity.
But why is there a need for this break in the first place?
Well, although focus is favored by your brain and you can create this intense level of concentration to gain the benefits from spending so much time at one thing over another there are also external influences that can make you feel too restricted and hemmed in which eventually force you to need a break.
And much of this comes from outside forces that are outdated and inefficient in your journey to success.
Because they don’t understand how your brain works.
Historically, it was the Babylonians who first designed the structure that was enforced upon you to work as you do these days. They were prominent in their kingdom from 1895BC- 539BC. And even though that was long ago their routines still dictate how your workweek is designed.
As it was them who designed the structured days of the week.
From there it was observed that seven days in a week coordinate with the time it takes the moon to move between each of its phases. From the full moon to the waning moon, to a half-moon, and then to a waxing one these days made up a full month of approximately a cycle of 29 days long.
From there each day in the week was called after a planet.
Monday was named after the moon. Tuesday after Mars. Wednesday and Thursday after Mercury and Jupiter respectively. And the final day of the working week was named after the planet Venus.
Whereas Saturday was named after Saturn and Sunday was taken from the sun.
So throughout the centuries, this history has shaped how you work from day to day, week to week, month to month, and throughout your years on earth.
But if what you are doing and how you are doing it in life isn’t working for you then you need a break. Because even though your brain loves a routine a calendar can bring it doesn’t mean to say you have to wait until the weekend before you pause from your working routine.
Instead, all you have to do is stop doing what you are doing right now.
Okay, I`m not asking you to stop reading just yet but I am saying you need to stop working.
Don’t get me wrong by working it’s the positive action you`ll need to get from one place to another and succeed at what your overall aim is. But if you are working at the same thing over and over again and it is not advancing you to your desired outcome then you need to change what you are doing.
And that change involves you firstly taking a break.
Because a break will give you clarity.
And once you can get the clarity you can begin to see the woods from the trees. That’s how you solve your problems and can pivot toward where you want to go.
Take for example if you have a problem early on in the week. Why should you wait until the weekend to take a break from it? That is a whole week away.
Your problems will have festered in your mind for all of those days and if you`re working at something and you have a big problem in the work you are doing then you are stressing yourself throughout that week which can make the problem and your thinking about it so much worse by the time the weekend comes around.
Instead, why not take a break on a Monday. Do what your brain loves. Distract it.
Try going to a movie on a Monday afternoon once the problem has hit.
Allow yourself to be carried away. Entertain your brain with something completely different.
Treat it.
Or if your problem hits on a Wednesday and you don’t have time to go to the movies take a walk in nature. Drink in what’s around you and be mindful of what is in front of you as you travel.
All of this is a distraction from the rat race. You are consciously taking yourself away from what is bothering you. In doing so though it is making sure your amygdala which is the fear center of your brain is being deflated from its anxiety.
That means you are nipping your perception of the initial problem in the bud.
Rather than stopping yourself from solving it, you are taking the fuel away from the fire that is against solving it.
This is how your brain works. It prefers its timetable. Sure it loves routine but as your thoughts create your actions other external routines are imposed on you by other people and so this forces you to do things that you are not entirely in control of.
So when a problem comes along you need to step outside of that routine and create your one instead to mould around the problem-solving that’s needed.
If you can’t see the wood just make sure you get out in one and you`ll be able to understand things from each of the trees’ viewpoints.
From there, your problems won’t last long after that.
