The productivity trap
Metacognition… the act of thinking about your thinking. When you stop to check in with your thoughts, do you ever notice that your mind is running a mental marathon? That you have 500 mental tabs open in your brain and you need to keep them all open forefront so you don’t forget something? That you’re juggling a million plates and it’s essential that you don’t let any of them drop or everything will fall apart?
These are just a few metaphors I like to use when describing the common and overwhelming experience of racing thoughts.
I often find myself physically racing around trying to finish up one task while simultaneously attempting to prepare for the next activity/project/chore of the day. I have often been able to “multi-task” like a champ and get a lot done when time, energy, and resources are running low. Operating like this is not beneficial for our mental wellness in the least-bit, but nevertheless, I notice it’s a trap I can often fall into. And let’s be real… our society values people being as productive as possible and attempting to squeeze in as much as we can into the 24 hours allotted to us each and every day. Oftentimes when I finally allow myself to slow down, I notice an edginess to my mood. There’s definitely the initial dopamine hit of crossing shit off my list, but there’s usually still something mentally nagging at me. That something is typically the realization that my physically racing body has been paired with a mentally racing brain. It’s sort of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario… did the racing body invite the racing brain to the party or vice versa? I’m really not sure, but I do know that these two typically go hand-in-hand.
My go-to self-care skill in this moment is…
You guessed it—a walk.
The key to note here, is the pace. In order to calm our nervous systems and soothe our brains, we need to slow down. By walking at a slow, mindful pace, we are letting our nervous systems know that we are safe, and there’s no tiger around the corner that we need to be hypervigilant about. The next time you notice your racing body and/or racing brain, take a moment to intentionally slow down your physical pace and unwind with a casual stroll around the block, your office building, or on the walking pad. Our brains and bodies are so intricately connected and are in constant communication. If we can lead our physical bodies into safety with a slow walk, our mental experience will typically (eventually) come along for the ride.
Kari still has a few spots open for Walk + Talk clients this summer. If you or someone you know is interested in taking therapy outside of the office, reach out and let’s get walking (& talking)! kari@wisewomxnwellness.com