To improve creativity and well-being; focus on downtime

We all know what happens when we feel stressed. Our heart is pounding, we can feel it in other parts of our body and it becomes hard to think clearly. Many times we become more reactive, thinking there aren´t any other options. But what if you instead try to find downtime to improve creativity and well-being for yourself.

When you feel stressed, your capacity to look at the broader picture will narrow down which means, you are not going to be creative in finding new solutions. What will happen instead is that you will keep creating the same kind of result over and over, instead of solving the situation you are up against.

Many of us feel selfish when we take time for ourselves. We feel we are robbing time from someone important in our lives. But isn’t that robbing time from you instead. What I try to teach myself and others is that when I feel balanced, I will have much more energy. I think more clearly, and I can help many more people in that way, my family included.

Understanding my need for downtime has changed my life completely. Today I take the time I need for myself, and I don´t have any negative feelings about it.⁠⠀

 

Building yourself a balanced life and finding well-being includes many different components, 

downtime being one of them. 

 

Finding the right amount of downtime, you need

What I would want for you, is to get to know yourself, and to find the amount of downtime, which serves you the best. To make it as easy as possible, ⁠I’ll start by asking a few questions. 

Do you get your energy from being around people or do you get it from being by yourself? Look around you and pay attention to your friends and relatives. How do they act, do they withdraw often, or do they need people around them? What is the model you have been taught? Do you think you need to engage in everything, or do you feel it’s OK to withdraw? Are you building your life in a way so that you can improve your creativity and well-being by spending time alone?

Studying your life, what is the amount of downtime you would need to feel well and energized?⁠ ⁠⠀

You are the most important person for you. Not in a self-centered way, rather the opposite. If you are not feeling balanced and if you do not have the energy to cope with yourself, how can you be there for anyone else? ⠀

Focus on you first, and you can be there for so many more people. ⁠⠀

Finding time for downtime

You can start finding time for yourself with maybe a silent moment in the morning or the evening. Preferably both. Then you can increase it if it feels energizing. Also, learn to be comfortable with your thoughts and feelings. ⁠⠀

Remember! You are not robbing people of something when you take time for yourself. Instead, you are building up your energy levels so that it will be easier to be there for yourself and them. ⁠

To improve creativity and well-being; focus on downtime and schedule downtime into your day. Try it for two weeks and find out how it makes you feel. What kind of impact does it have on you and the people close to you?⁠⠀

Do you want to learn more about how to build a better life? You might be interested in these as well:

• Why you should focus on living a balanced life
• Finding life balance and inner peace in nature
• How developing passion can create a balanced life
• Why striving for life balance is key to success