From work-life balance to work-life harmony, manage your time.
7 Key strategies for Brain Health and Mental Wellness
The all-American grind really comes down to establishing a work-life balance. For years, I’ve struggled to establish the perfect routine. I want to ride through life like the currents in the river, easily from one ripple to the next. Instead, I stumble like an awkward fawn finding her feet. Life just isn't always so graceful. It’s more of a gamble and a scramble to pull things off.
Weekly writing deadlines and teaching schedules mean my work always tips the scales. And it seems my motivation only has two modes: on and off, always unpredictable with focus unreliable. There’s a vast gap between how I want to engage with my life and how I let my time dissolve.
Truthfully, I’m uncomfortable and restless in this way of existing. If I want a more purposeful engagement with myself and the world around me, I need to reevaluate what I’m choosing. If I want to spend more time socializing, connecting, hiking, and making art… then I need to be more intentional with my time. I need to find a rhythm of living that supports me toward everything I envision.
Recently, I saw a clip on TV about a prominent doctor who is also a jazz musician. Rather than spending time on the golf course, he opts for rehearsals and gigs. He said something SO pivotal about work-life balance it hooked me. He said instead of trying to find this “perfect” equilibrium between one and the other, he thinks of it as work-life harmony. He’s mastered that beautiful equation of a fulfilling focused career with a flourishing creative expression of gifts.
So then, how do you divide your time? How do you manage your attention in a way that supports your mental health? What is needed to create work-life harmony?
The Healthy Mind Platter, from Hugs to Zzzzzs
Dr. Dan Siegel, a clinical professor of psychiatry, and Dr. David Rock, the co-founder of Neuroleadership, collaborated on a concept in 2011 that would outline seven key uses of your time to promote better mental wellness. When we provide the brain with diverse activities and experiences, we strengthen our cognitive flexibility through new connections and neural networks, thus resulting in quicker recovery times and better emotional resilience.
The Healthy Mind Platter isn’t a strict dogma but allows you to see seven types of activity that support brain function and mental health. Consider these in the same way you would essential nutrients for the body. Grab your planner and map out blocks of time with these seven factors in mind. Every day or through out the week, tune-up your work life harmony.
Hug it out.
Connecting Time: When we spend time connecting to nature, animals, and other people, our mental outlook and cognitive functioning improve. We’re wired for social connection. In isolation and loneliness, we are more susceptible to an increase in stress hormones and inflammation, which leave us vulnerable to chronic disease, lower immunity, and diminished cognition.
Move it or lose it.
Physical Time: Exercise is known to release brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a key molecule that encourages the growth of new brain cells. BDNF can also support learning and memory as a function of the hippocampus. Flexing your muscles can flex your mood management and temper the impact of depression and anxiety.
Get down to business.
Focus Time: The prefrontal cortex is responsible for organizing, planning, and focus. When challenged, this part of the brain functions to allow flexible thinking for creative problem-solving. It also manages the ability to ignore distractions. Everyone is wired differently with a natural propensity to maintain concentration. It’s said the max for most is ninety minutes, then it’s best to take a break.
All work and no play…
Play Time: Play Time: As much as we need to hold the power of concentration steady for a certain amount of time to accomplish our goals, we also need time for unfocused attention. Hyper-focus can be just as detrimental as lack of concentration. Play is the bedrock of creative functioning and imagination. The brain learns to make unexpected connections and boost neuroplasticity. Dedicate yourself to letting your mind run wild for a spell.
Help wanted? Inquire within.
Reflection Time: Taking these pauses for reflection allows the brain to sort, organize, and integrate our experiences. We can decode and untangle our thoughts, feelings, and sensations to give us meaning. In these moments, we take the time to deepen our connection to everyone and everything else.
Sweet Zzzzzs
Sleep Time: With 6-7 hours of sleep, the brain has ample time to rejuvenate. Neurons help flush out toxins and waste. New information is processed and stored. The neural networks rewire to allow for the creation of memories. These are the golden hours needed to assimilate and absorb the day.
Chill baby baby, chill
Down Time: Your brain waves slow down when you relax, inducing a calmer state of being. The mind really digs those alpha waves. The executive functions gain cognitive flexibility that enables clarity and sharpness untaxed by other distractions. As an extra bonus, we get a natural boost of endorphins; this happy hormone combats stress and acts as a natural painkiller.
We don’t always get so science-y when we talk about life schedules and jammin’ on planners, but brain health is simpatico with mental wellness and mood disorders. There are already so many things you do on the daily that tick the boxes. See where you need a bigger devotion of time. Jumping on the yoga mat, walking the dog, having people over for dinner—all cover multiple bases. But when we go all in on focus, multitasking our way through mental gymnastics, our brains get fried. When we ditch sleep for one more episode of Cheers, the brain loses some processing and detoxing time.
Work-life harmony makes a big shift in attitude. There is synergy among all the different parts to make space for everything. You don’t have to see things as being at odds with each other. There is no tug of war. No one component of your life is competing for more energy. There isn’t a need to compartmentalize everything to make sure you wear all the hats just right. This doesn’t mean priorities don’t shift and family needs aren’t met. It means there is freedom in your outlook as you approach your day. Let each facet fuel the next so it all contributes to the full picture of your goals and dreams.
