Powerful Pause

It wasn’t due to lack of effort.

She was trying so hard.

My daughter was having trouble with her math homework and it was late into the evening.

But she was also worried about getting it done that night. She felt the pressure of the test coming up. She had the doubt creeping in.

I know that feeling too. It feels heavy. And dark.

And the power of that feeling actually prevents your brain from working. You probably know this intuitively.

Overwhelm, too much stress and pressure shuts down creativity. It destroys curiosity. There’s really limited space for learning or building or creating anything in this mode.

So I suggested a break. Sleep and reset. Reboot, like a computer needs to now and again.

She didn’t want to. She wanted it done now.

But the more she wanted it done now, the more she forced it, the slower the progress.

She finally agreed to go to bed.

The next morning was a new day. She asked questions. She tried new things. She made mistakes… but was willing to learn from them.

And wouldn’t you know… she was able to complete problems that were impossible the night before.

The pressure of now. The weight of get it done… can be an issue.

In the right amounts, it can be motivating. But too much of it actually closes paths of power within our brain.

When this happens… we feel like we need to just power through it. But doing that actually only makes things worse.

Your brain needs a break. It needs to refuel.

When this happens, as hard as it is to do… walk away. Literally.

Then give you brain rest. Do something that doesn’t require brain power.

• Take a walk
• Do the dishes
• Take a power nap (15-20 min)
• Try again the next day

You’re not giving up. You’re being smart. You’re recharging your resilience.

Walk away…

and come back to with your full power.

– Laura @ Mindtap

“When things begin accelerating wildly out of control, sometimes patience is the only answer. Press pause.”

– Douglas Rushkoff

American author and documentarian