Don’t forget to close all the tabs in your head too
Work when you work, play when you play, before you go, don't forget to close all the tabs in your head too
If you would rather listen than read then push play below to hear about: Closing all the tabs in your head
Have you ever felt like this?
Guilty for working when you feel like you should be spending time with family/friends/doing self-care
Guilty for not working when you are spending time with family/friends/ doing self-care
If this is you then you have “open tabs” in your head reminding you of all the other things going on in your life.
Work when you work play when you play
This quote came from a mentor of mine and it reminds me to focus on the one thing I am doing right now
You will find that productive people are really good at this.
if they are at work, they work. They focus on their work tasks.
If they are playing they are focusing on play. They focus on getting the rest and restoration that play offers.
They do so without guilt, because they know this is the best way to stay creative, do their best work and be there for themselves and be present for their friends and family.
When you struggle to turn off the tabs in your head YOUR work and rest suffer. You get stuck in limbo where you are neither working well or resting appropriately.
It was a Friday afternoon when I posted the graphic about closing the tabs in your head on my Linked in feed .
A lovely reminder I thought to work when you work and play when you play.
Amazingly this post really resonated with people more than I thought. The comments revealed that many of us struggle to turn off the tabs in our heads!
Sleep mode or shutdown?
Is it that important to close all the tabs, to switch off your brain. Or is it ok to let things run?
Your brain is one of the best computers on the planet, so comparing it to your computer as the graphic did seemed like a good place to start. To get you some answers I looked into the reason you may want to turn off your computer.
There is some debate around whether or not turning off your computer every day is good or not. Some think it’s ok to keep your computer on others say not.
As far as the tabs on your computer go, what do you do? Do you shut down your computer every night or do you leave it on?
I have ALWAYS been in the “shut down” my computer every night camp, my husband in the leave it on or in what is called sleep mode.
Like I said there are arguments for both but the main thing that came back to me when doing some research was this:
the computer’s battery can still drain slowly over the course of hours or days in Sleep Mode
the computer’s RAM never gets a break and can become full or overloaded
So even in SLEEP MODE, that is when we close the lid but don’t switch it off, the battery is still being drained and over time decreases the ability of the computer to function at its best.
A true shut down clears all the RAM and frees up memory and processing power
Overtime keeping your computer on it will become bogged down and run slower
The easiest way to fix these performance issues is to simply shut down
By never turning off your computer you are putting it at higher risk of harm. Imagine never going to sleep for weeks straight, what would that do to your body and mind?
Closing all the tabs and shutting down your computer is beneficial. You don’t have to do it every time you walk away from your desk but often enough so that you get the best out of your computer.
NEWS FLASH: Even though your brain is the best computer around you still need to shut down and close all the tabs in your head to get the most out of yourself. And for best results, you need to do this every day.
When you walk away from your work but keep thinking about it, you are still in the computer equivalent of SLEEP MODE. This means your battery is still being drained and your ability to function at your best, either at work or play is compromised
Imagine never going to sleep, the equivalent of a computer not shutting down ) for weeks straight, what would that do to your body and mind?
As a health and wellness professionals whether you are a coach or a PT or a health professional, you know intuitively that it’s important to turn off. But it’s not always easy to close all the tabs in our head, to turn off from the work we are doing.
By closing all the tabs in your head you can be more productive in the long run.
Here are some strategies to help you close all the tabs in your head and shut down so you can reboot and be more productive.
Schedule a shutdown - Humans love routine. By choosing a time of the day to stop work and walk away you are training your brain to switch off. As you close the tabs on your computer, consciously close the tabs in your head too
Pen and Paper -write down things you need to do tomorrow before you leave your office space.
Exercise - daily, get out for a walk, go to the gym. Physical movement makes you focus on the moment and helps close those tabs
Self Care - Soak in a bath / meditate / play- all of these things help you switch off and get the rest and reboot that you need
Schedule your play time - have a plan for all of these things mentioned above. Again humans love routine. Even if you are a free creative spirit, it’s amazing how a plan can free you up even more!
Having a clear plan to close all the tabs in our head doesn’t have to be rigid, a plan gives us direction and freedom. It helps us see what is important and is so very useful when life gets complicated.
Sometimes all we need is a reminder. A reminder to STOP and tell ourselves it’s time to turn off.
Other times we need a bit more, that’s when having clear work and play scheduled into our calendar can really help.
Here are three things to remember
#1 WORK WHEN YOU WORK
#2 PLAY WHEN YOU PLAY
And before you go, don’t forget to
#3 CLOSE ALL THE TABS IN YOUR HEAD TOO
Would you like more tips to help you close the tabs in your head and to plan and organise your online content when you turn them back on again?
I would love to invite you to join me in the Online Content Club for weekly info to make you more Online Confident.
Thank you to @HELLOSUNSHINE for the image
