The Importance of Pressing Pause and Taking a Mental Break 

Gone are the days of multitasking. Multitasking used to mean taking notes during a three-hour meeting and fixing the audiovisual equipment, too. Now it seems that we are on autopilot with information overload and living “checklist lives.” What is a checklist life? Did I feed the dog? Check. Did I email the second quarter budget to finance? Check. Did I send in the payment on time to register the kid for summer camp? Check. All the while, your phone is dinging with the latest political update or gossip from TMZ.

Pause. This used to be a button used on the remote to go to the restroom and grab more ice cream from the fridge. Why can’t we apply the pause button to our lives? We tend to do an insane amount of work in a 24-hour period to the extent that we are physically, mentally, and emotionally overloaded, and we do not even realize it! When did we turn into robots? I have found that when operating in autopilot mode, we cannot even be in the moment because we are already focusing on the next tasks that need to be completed.

When we fail to press pause, unhealthy habits settle in. Before we know it, we have chronic headaches and an annoying ache in the lower lumbar. Stress is a silent killer. It can be difficult to find time for ourselves, let alone find ten minutes in the day just to breathe. However, it is essential that we do find that time. Once upon a time, being healthy was perceived as going to the gym three or four times a week, drinking a gallon of water a day, and squeezing into a size 8. That image of “healthy” is quietly fading, and that’s a good thing!

Being healthy means the absence of disease. Health should be holistic in that the entire individual is addressed — emotional, spiritual, physical, mental, and social. Taking steps to be healthier does not mean simply going to the gym and scheduling spa days. It is more about reconnecting to what makes you unique. Think back to a time in your life when you were happy for no reason other than just being happy. You were happy to wake up, happy to grab lunch with friends, happy to drive to your destination. Now think about what you were doing at that point in your life that made you so happy. Think about the little, seemingly insignificant things you did that brought you joy. Was it time spent training for a marathon or maybe trying to complete those last few credits for a degree or perhaps volunteering at a senior citizen center? Did you spend every Thursday evening at a close friend’s house helping with whatever?

Understandably, our lives change. We have to “adult” and tend to responsibilities, children, and even aging family members. However, we cannot forget the little things that make us happy and ultimately, make us who we are!

Here are some fun ways to ease your way into relaxation. If you are trying to press pause in the first time in months or years, here are a few fun ways to begin!

• Find your favorite song or make a playlist of your favorite tunes and put it on repeat. Dancing in the mirror with a hairbrush helps.
• Unplug for thirty minutes. There are features on phones now that allow calls only from selected important contacts. Talk to everyone else later.
• Girls night — make a date with your best buddies and have some fun at a new restaurant, bar, or at someone’s home.
• New makeup and new shoes. No explanation needed.
• Take a power nap. A 20-30 minute nap is all you need sometimes to have energy for the rest of the day!
• Find a good book or magazine to read.
• Watch your favorite movie.
• Take a bubble bath or try a bath with bath bombs. Lush Cosmetics has decedent smelling bath bombs, and they make your skin feel like silk afterwards. Spoil yourself and take a dip with one.
• Netflix and chill. While some don’t like this, it is just a great way to turn your brain off for a while. It can also serve as background noise while you do other things.
• No housework for a weekend. Give yourself permission to take a break! If the clothes pile up an extra day or two, that’s OK.

While some of these suggestions sound silly, they are just ways to breathe. Press pause and find time to reconnect with you. Enjoy rediscovering relaxation!